Fighting Fire
by ravenbabe321
Summary: AU Dacey fic. Danny Desai and Lacey Porter are adults and colleagues that hate each other. What happens when they're forced to work together on an important project? Some, not all Twisted characters will make an appearance in this story.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello everyone. It's me again. I have a new story that I just had to put out. I'm still working on Pinks and Blues, so don't worry. I will try to alternate updates between both stories, but I never know where my feels might take me. This is a different take on Dacey so I'm eager to see where this story takes me. I hope everyone enjoys my latest creation. Feedback is greatly appreciated. As always, I use that to decipher whether I will continue with a story or not. My time is very valuable and I wouldn't want to waste it putting a lot of effort and energy into a story that people don't like and don't read. So again, if the bad reviews outweigh the good, I will not continue. **

**I'd like to Thank my loyal readers, followers, and reviewers. I do this for you guys. I do not get the praise and support some other writers get, so I appreciate you more than you know and I don't take it for granted at all. You guys make me smile and it's a pleasure writing for you. :)**

* * *

Lacey Porter was having the morning from hell. After having a pretty good weekend, she spent her Sunday night tossing and turning. She was too tired to not get any sleep. After completely frustrating herself, she just laid in the dark totally mad that she didn't get any sleep and that would make her day horrible. When her alarm finally went off, she slammed down on it so hard she actually hurt her hand. She got out of her bed and headed straight for the shower. She hoped that the water would somehow revive and invigorate her. She knew she would definitely need a major cup of coffee to get her through the morning. After she got out of the shower, she went to her closet and tried to find something to wear for work. Lacey decided on a red skirt suit. She loved how she looked in red and happened to love that particular red suit. She hardly ever wore it, probably just twice because it stood out too much. It fit her like a glove and really showed off all her best assets. Lacey had a feeling that the attention she'd get from wearing that suit, might make her feel better. And she was trying to stand out so that her bosses would give her something extremely important to do so that she could really make her mark. She knew that red meant energy and passion. She wanted her bosses to see that she was a go getter, passionate and driven about her work. She hoped that she would stand out when they selected the associate to work on the new case.

Not that she had trouble with standing out. Lacey would stand out anywhere. With strikingly beautiful good looks, and a body to die for, Lacey Porter was impossible to miss. She turned heads every where she went. Lacey had the kind of beauty that stopped traffic. And although she knew she was gorgeous, she was very modest in that aspect. She didn't want to be seen as just beautiful. She was highly intelligent too and wanted people to see that as opposed to just seeing how beautiful she is. She graduated from Columbia and went even further by getting her MBA. Lacey was much more than a stellar body and a pretty face.

Lacey was anxious and eager to start her day and was mad that she was facing this important day on so little sleep. She stubbed her toe on her dresser and had to change her pantyhose twice because she put runs in them. She decided to take a breather and relax herself. She was impatient and anxious, and it was getting to her. She took several deep, cleansing breaths and slowly got her nerves and her anxiety in check. She finally got dressed, did her hair, skipping the makeup routine lots of women went through, except for lipstick, because Lacey Porter honestly didn't need to wear makeup. She would put it on to go out, but it was totally unnecessary on an average day. She headed out to her car and turned on some old Britney Spears to revive her. She was winding up or down, however you looked at it and was starting to feel better when she ran into an accident on the beltway. Traffic was a pure headache. Lacey sighed in frustration.

_Could this day get any worse?_

* * *

Lacey stopped at the Starbucks that was thankfully on the first floor of the building she worked in. The owners really knew what they were doing by putting it inside of the state of the art food court in her building. Lacey was just getting her feet wet in the world of Financial Analysis. She was currently a Junior Analyst at Burke, Murphy and Wheeler. She was trying to climb her way up the ladder in a male dominated world. It was unfair, but also a part of life that she had to work harder than her male counterparts. She had to work extra hard because she had looks that belonged in Vogue or Maxim. Lacey couldn't help being born beautiful and she was willing to work hard to prove that brains and beauty can go hand in hand. She also had to work even harder being that she's a Black woman in a White male dominated world. That's the hand she was dealt, and she wanted to play her cards wisely.

Lacey walked up to the Starbucks and saw the walking erection, Danny Desai flirting with the company slut, Valerie. It was no secret that Valerie slept her way through the building. She was trying to make her way to the top, but Lacey figured that Senior Analyst Danny Desai was just a minor fork in the road. Danny was the object of desire for all of the women in that building. Except for Lacey. Lacey seriously disliked Danny Desai. He didn't like her either. She thought he was a cocky, pompous jackass, essentially an asshole, who hid behind his money and good looks. He was so cocky, it was sickening. Danny thought Lacey was a cold, frigid bitch. He hated that she pretty much paid him no attention, and wasn't at his beck and call like other women were. Danny thought Lacey desperately needed to get laid, and he was willing to help her out with that. She acted like he didn't exist though. He didn't have to wonder just why she hated him so much. Everyone else thought she was nice and a pleasure to be around. Nobody else ever witnessed the chagrin between the two. Lacey was nice and extremely popular with the entire building. That wasn't the case with Danny. She mostly ignored him unless it was absolutely necessary. He didn't like it, but he guessed he understands it. He can partly see why she hates his guts, but she was just borderline nasty to him. So he was a complete prick to her any chance he got.

They both tried to pretend that they didn't see each other, but they did. Lacey noticed the black suit he was wearing. And he had that ridiculous long hair out. She preferred that he wear that mess in a bun like he normally did. She figured he had it out to flirt. Maybe he thought it made him sexier. She pictured Fabio on the cover of one of those cheesy romance novels. That is immediately what she thought of when she looked at Danny Desai with his hair almost flowing in the wind. And the brunette bimbo he was chatting with didn't make it any better. It would have been totally cliché if she was blonde, but it really didn't matter with this particular female. Lacey didn't respect women like her. Ones that slept their way to the top. It made women like her have to work harder to prove themselves, and at the end of the day, someone would still be willing to give her the world on a silver platter. If she just slept with him.

Lacey also pretended not to notice him notice her as he licked his lips and pretended to be focused on Valerie. She saw that he was watching her as she strolled past. She knew he used that as a way to undermine her. Like she didn't go to college and graduate school and work hard to get where she is like he did. He just wanted to reduce her to just another pretty face. She knew that his pretty face got him places, but she wasn't willing to sell herself out like that.

He whispered something in Valerie's ear and she smiled and walked away. Danny then walked up behind Lacey and stood in line. If she had eyes in the back of her head, she would have seen that he looked her up and down and licked his lips as he imagined her out of that red suit. He then focused on her butt and he really wanted to reach out and either grab it or slap it. He knew that would rile her up. So he decided to taunt her.

Danny leaned forward and whispered in her ear. "Good morning, Ms. Porter."

Lacey became rigid at him speaking to her and standing so close. "Morning." Lacey replies while never actually turning around to acknowledge him.

"You look nice today. You really look good in red." Danny countered while not trying to disguise the sultry sound to his voice. He knew that would get to her.

Lacey just turned and looked at him and gave him a look between disgust and annoyance. She let out a small, "Tsk" before replying. "Thanks." Lacey was finally at the counter and placed her order. She was naturally polite to the man behind the counter. She stood off to the side to wait for her drink and Danny placed his order. He then walked over to Lacey and she didn't even bother trying to hide how not pleased she was that he was standing next to her.

"You aren't going to tell me that I look good today too?" Danny says as he smirks at her.

"No." Lacey says as she shifts and folds her arms across her chest and almost hits him with her briefcase.

"Why not?" Danny asks, with his taunting smirk still planted on his face.

"Because I don't think you look good." Lacey says.

Danny lets out a scoff. "Yes you do." Danny says.

Lacey locks eyes with him. _God he's sexy. _"No, I don't." Lacey says with finality and Danny chuckles just to make her madder.

"Is it my hair? I know you like it better when I wear it in a bun." Danny says to further taunt Lacey.

Lacey looked at him and cut her eyes at him. He was going above and beyond picking with her. "I don't care what you do with your hair, Mr. Desai." Lacey says.

"Why does it seem like you do?" Danny asks.

"Beats me." Lacey says as she hunches her shoulders. "I think you have me confused with Valerie, or one of the other women in this building."

Danny thinks for a minute. He grins and shakes his head as he rubs the hair around his mouth and on his chin. "No, you would be hard to confuse with another woman." Danny says almost seductively. He again licked his lips and stared at hers.

Lacey tried to rack her brain to think of a comeback when she hears the guy behind the counter call her name. She was extremely grateful that she was saved. She went to get her drink and left the coffee shop and darted for the elevator. She sighed with relief after she pressed her floor and leaned against the elevator wall. The door started to close until a hand appeared to stop it from closing. Danny entered the elevator with a smirk.

"Thanks for holding the elevator for me, Ms. Porter." Danny says as he presses the door close button.

_Great. _

* * *

Lacey and Danny rode the elevator in silence up to the ninth floor. They headed in opposite directions to their offices. Lacey settled in hers and drank her coffee. She was still a little riled up by her interactions with Danny. She was sipping her coffee and unsuccessfully trying to calm down when Whitney Taylor walked into her office.

"Good morning, Lacey." Whitney says as she walks over to sit in one of the chairs facing Lacey's desk.

Lacey looked up and smiled. "Good morning, Whitney. How are you?"

"I'm good for a Monday morning. How about you?" Whitney asks.

"Terrible. I didn't get any sleep last night. And then I'm having a terrible morning on top of it." Lacey says as she takes another sip of her coffee.

"I saw you get off the elevator with Danny." Whitney says as she smiles widely at Lacey.

Lacey frowns. "Don't remind me." Lacey says with a scoff.

"You know you wanna hit that." Whitney says while still smiling widely.

Lacey frowns again. "No, I don't." Lacey says.

"We know he's a cocky bastard, but he's a hot cocky bastard. Just think of how amazing the sex will be." Whitney says.

"I don't need to imagine having sex with Danny, Ms. Taylor."

"Why? Because you already hit that? I still say you did. I don't know why you won't admit it." Whitney says.

"We are not having this conversation, Whitney." Lacey says with a smile.

"I know I'm right. That's the only way to explain you two "hating" each other." Whitney says as she puts major emphasis on the word hating by adding quotations with her hands as she said it.

Lacey opened her mouth to speak, when Phoebe Daly poked her head in Lacey's door. "Morning Ladies. Meeting in the conference room with Mr. Wheeler." Phoebe says as she smiles and lingers in the doorway.

"Morning, Phoebe." Lacey says as she smiles and stands.

"Hey, Phoebe." Whitney says as she stands and heads towards Lacey's door. The three women walk into the conference room and are the first to arrive. They each sit at the huge cherry wood table and wait for their colleagues to arrive. Danny walks in with the other hottie, Cole. They're talking about basketball. Danny makes it his business to sit across from Lacey. She knew he would do that after bothering her the entire time she was getting her coffee. Lacey forces herself not to roll her eyes when he sat down and grinned at her. Lacey just turned her head towards Phoebe and Whitney.

"How was your weekend, Phoebe?" Lacey asks.

"Great. I went to visit my parents and then me and my mom went to a movie. She didn't once bring up grandkids." Phoebe says.

"I'm glad my mother doesn't do that to me. I think she knows I might not have any." Whitney says.

"My mom hasn't started bugging me about that yet. She just wonders when I'll get married." Lacey says as she rolls her eyes.

A few more colleagues come into the room and sit down. Mr. Wheeler enters with his secretary and begins the meeting. "Good morning, Ladies and Gentlemen. How is everyone today?" Mr. Wheeler asks as he looks around the room and smiles at his employees.

Everyone murmurs, "Great", "Fine", "Excellent", and a few other replies.

"That's great to hear. I know most if not all of you know exactly what this meeting is about. I know a few of you may have heard that we're taking on a potentially huge project with the Biometrics and the Deputy Instruments merger. This project has the potential to make us a lot of money and to really put the Burke, Murphy, and Wheeler name out there. And this has the potential to have an analyst really make their mark and shine during this project. I know you all are wondering who will be selected for this merger. Since this involves merging two companies happily and successfully, I'm choosing two analysts to handle this project." Mr. Wheeler says and pauses for emphasis. "I think it will make the job a lot easier to put two brains together on this one. And I'm choosing a Senior and a Junior analyst for this one. I think the Senior Analyst will bring forth expertise and the Junior analyst will bring a freshness to this and the opportunity to learn something from one another. So without further adieu, the Senior analyst I've chosen is Danny Desai and the Junior analyst is Lacey Porter."

If Lacey could have objected, she would have. She wanted this opportunity, and she got it. How ironic is that? She was praying her bosses would admire her drive and tenacity just that morning, and they did. And now she was being forced to work with the person she despised.

"I think you two should work wonderfully together. I'll meet with you two in my office in an hour to discuss further details. Meeting adjourned." Mr. Wheeler says and he's out of the conference room in a flash with his secretary following closely behind.

People started to get up to return to their offices, but Lacey was a little too stunned to move. She finally stood up to push her chair under the table when she saw Danny straighten out his tie, smirk, and wink at her.

_Great, just great. I have to work closely with this jackass. _Lacey thinks as she practically stomps to her office like a toddler throwing a tantrum.


	2. Chapter 2

Lacey felt like screaming on her way back to her office. She wanted to kill Mr. Wheeler for putting her with Danny. And then he had the nerve to wink at her. All she could think of was how he was indeed a bastard, and him constantly getting under her skin would most likely only get worse. She was now propelled in to interacting with him on a constant, daily basis. She hated that more than she hated anything in her life. She was thinking of a way to get out of it, but she knew she couldn't. It would look really bad and not work in her favor to refuse to do this project with him. That could potentially set her up to never be handed big or important projects ever again. The more she thought about it, the more she hated it. She had the nonsensical feeling that he somehow had a hand in them being put together on this assignment. She knew that was bogus and highly unlikely because she knew her bosses did what they felt was best. They were extremely fair and practical men that cared about their business and employees, but they did what they wanted with their company.

Lacey was practically fuming as she stepped into her office with Whitney right on her heels. Lacey walked over and sat in her seat as Whitney walked in and shut her door. She laughed almost loudly as she sat in the same chair she was seated in earlier.

"You're working with Danny. This is too rich for words." Whitney says as she grips the sides of the chair and taps her feet on the floor animatedly.

Lacey gave her an evil look. "I'm glad you're enjoying this." Lacey says and she almost sounds angry.

"I really am. Mr. Wheeler just put you with the man you "hate". This will be epic to see. I'll be your assistant so I can see this first hand." Whitney chirps while again putting major emphasis on the word hate just like she did before.

"Well since you're so excited, how about you take my place?" Lacey suggests as she places her arms on table and sort of squares up with Whitney.

"You know I can't do that, Lacey." Whitney explains.

"I know you can't. That's why this sucks and blows." Lacey says as she sighs heavily.

Whitney giggles. "Is there some particular reason you used those words to describe the situation at hand?" Whitney asks.

"What?" Lacey asks.

"You just said that it sucks and blows. Is that what you're planning on doing?" Whitney questions.

Lacey gives Whitney the death look. "Get out of my office." Lacey says in a serious tone.

Whitney laughs and stands and walks over to the door. She pauses and turns as she puts her hand on the doorknob. "Are we having lunch together, or will you be having Danny instead?" Whitney asks with a straight face.

"Get out." Lacey says through clenched teeth.

* * *

Danny was having a similar conversation in his office with Cole Farrell. Although Danny wasn't taking it as hard as Lacey was at the moment, he was a little apprehensive about working with her.

"So, you and Lacey Porter are going to work together." Cole says as he sits in one of the chairs across from Danny.

"It appears to be that way." Danny says a little uneasily.

"Why don't you sound happier? She is smoking hot." Cole says as he looks at Danny with unsure eyes.

"Yeah, she's hot. But you know we don't like each other. Well, she hates me more than I dislike her." Danny says.

"What's up with her hating you anyway?" Cole asks.

"I don't know." Danny says and just leaves it at that.

"You don't know? Did you two have a romance that went sour?" Cole asks.

"No. She just doesn't like me." Danny says.

"Then why don't you like her?" Cole asks.

"Because she doesn't like me." Danny says and both men laugh.

"I think you're holding out on me. There has to be more to it than that." Cole says as he gives Danny a little something to think about.

"Like what?" Danny wonders.

"Maybe you both are pretending to hate each other because you really like each other." Cole responds.

"That's not it. I don't like Lacey Porter." Danny says.

"So you really wouldn't sleep with her if you could?" Cole asks skeptically.

"Of course I would. I think that's what she needs any way." Danny says as he grins at Cole.

"Do you really think a woman that hot isn't sleeping with someone? Did you see her in that red suit?" Cole asks.

"Of course I saw her. It riled me up when we were downstairs. I forgot I was talking to Valerie when she walked past. I don't know. I would think men would be lining up to sleep with her. I would if she wasn't such a bitch to me. But sometimes her being such a bitch turns me on. It makes me think she must be a tiger in bed." Danny says as he looks off and really wonders about what he just said. He gets a little lost in thought just wondering how good in bed Lacey might be.

"Yeah, I really believe you don't like Lacey after all of that." Cole says as he stands to leave Danny's office.

Danny finally starts to pay attention to Cole leaving. "What?" Danny asks as he looks over at Cole standing at his door.

Cole snickers. "Man, you have it bad and you don't even know it. Catch you later." Cole says before he leaves and again gives Danny something to think about.

* * *

Lacey was feeling lots of trepidation when faced with the reality of working with Danny. She didn't like it. She didn't like it at all. She started beating herself up about wishing her bosses would pick her for a huge project just that morning. She got what she wanted. She really thought she should be more careful about what she wishes for in the future, because she just might get it. Maybe wearing that red suit and appearing to be energetic and driven might not have been such a good idea.

Lacey reluctantly got up from her seat and walked out of her office to head to the elevator. She prayed that she didn't run into Danny. And as luck would have it, he was coming from the opposite direction heading to the elevator as well. Danny pressed the button and actually turned and smiled at her. Lacey just looked at him. The elevator arrived with a ding and Danny put out his hand to let her enter first. Lacey pressed 15 almost with force and the door shut. She stood on one side while Danny leaned against the wall, just looking at her.

_How can someone so beautiful be so evil? _Danny thought. He decided to somehow try to break the ice. "I think we should have an interesting experience working together." Danny says as he again straightens out his tie.

Lacey glared over at him. "I think saying this will be an interesting experience is putting it mildly. I actually think it will be a disaster, but what do I know?" Lacey says candidly.

"Disaster? That's a pretty strong word." Danny says.

Lacey looks at him a minute before answering. "That's the only word I can think of at the moment." Lacey says without apology.

Danny hits the stop button on the elevator and stands right in front of her, startling her. "You know, you could be a little nicer to me and more optimistic about this." Danny says.

"Nicer? I'm perfectly nice to you." Lacey lies.

Danny starts to laugh and Lacey revolts and folds her arms across her chest. "Cut the bull, Lacey. You and I both know you treat me like crap." Danny says before continuing. "I just want to know why."

Lacey steps forward and reaches around him to pull the stop button and the elevator starts to move again. When she reached forward, she accidentally brushed up against him and started to feel warm inside. She noticed how hard his body was and that made her a little mad because she liked it. She pushes that out of her mind before she starts to speak. "We have to get going before we're late. Mr. Wheeler is a stickler for punctuality." Lacey says as the elevator arrives to their floor and Lacey steps off. Danny steps off the elevator and follows closely behind. He doesn't take his eyes off her butt as she walks in front of him.

They enter the small reception area outside of their bosses offices, and have a seat in the chairs in that area. Lacey crossed her legs and shifted slightly away from Danny. He just sat there and stared at the wall. Mr. Wheeler's secretary, April just sat there and smiled at the two. It was obvious that there was a lot of sexual tension between them. She sat and looked at them and noticed what an awfully nice looking couple they would make. After they all sat in silence for a few minutes, April interrupted Lacey and Danny's thinking when she spoke.

"You two can go in now." April says as she again smiles at them.

Danny and Lacey entered Mr. Wheeler's huge office and immediately noticed several boxes of what could only be files and papers that they had to go through. They both approached his desk and waited for clearance to sit down.

"Mr. Desai and Ms. Porter. Have a seat." Mr. Wheeler says as he smiles at both of his employees. He waits for them to sit down before he continues. "So, are you two excited about this project?" Mr. Wheeler asks hopefully.

Lacey puts on her award-winning smile. "Of course, Mr. Wheeler. I'm very excited about this." Lacey says enthusiastically because she really is excited though she isn't that thrilled about working with Danny.

"So am I. I have a feeling this will go smoothly. In fact, I think Ms. Porter and I should work on more projects together." Danny says as he looks over at Lacey and smiles and then looks at Mr. Wheeler.

"Wonderful. I love that attitude, Danny. I'll keep that under consideration when we decide teams for other huge projects. Now, on to the matter at hand. Both Biometrics and Deputy Instruments are interested in merging their companies. They both have several branches of services that they provide for the medical community. They provide medical implants and devices for all sorts of surgeries ranging from traumas to ordinary fractures that need repair to total and partial joint replacements." Mr. Wheeler says as he hands both of them two thick folders. "As you can see, there's a truck load of data you two will have to go through to come up with the best options or options for both companies." Mr. Wheeler pauses to take a slight break. "I already arranged for you two to fly out to their headquarters in Minnesota and West Virginia next week. You'll spend the rest of this week going over the data to present both companies with the best possible outcome. We all want this marriage to go smoothly. Any questions?" Mr. Wheeler asks.

Lacey really wanted to ask him why in the hell he would arrange for her to go out of town on not one, but two business trips with Danny. To two different states no less. That meant flights and hotel rooms. She was so not in the mood for this. But she had to put on her game face and be a trooper. She knew it would not benefit her in the long run to mess this up or she could kiss her job and her future at the company goodbye. "I just want to know when we leave and how long we'll be staying at both company's headquarters?" Lacey asks. She's dreading and hating the prospect of leaving the state with Danny Desai. This truly sucks.

"Well, I planned to have you spend two days at both companies and you'll be leaving Monday to help you get settled before your meetings on Tuesday and Thursday. If you need more time at either place, I'll make arrangements to have your needs accommodated. Your itineraries are in those folders I gave you along with your plane tickets. And don't worry, you'll be flying First Class all the way." Mr. Wheeler says as he smiles at both of them. Suddenly, there's a knock at the door. "Come in." Mr. Wheeler says and April enters with a cart they assume is for the boxes they need to log downstairs. "Any other questions?" Mr. Wheeler asks as he looks at Danny and Lacey.

"None for me. If I have any, I'll shoot you a line." Danny says as he smiles briskly.

"No more questions from me." Lacey says as she smiles to hide her pain.

"Ok. I wish you guys good luck on this project. I have faith in both of you." Mr. Wheeler says and Danny and Lacey stand and head over to the boxes.

Lacey reaches for one and sees that it's too heavy for her to pick up. She just looks at Danny and he gives her that smirk she hates. "I've got it." Danny says as he picks up the boxes with ease like they only weigh a feather. She saw his muscles rippling under his white shirt and she felt a little flushed. Danny finished with the boxes and they headed out of Mr. Wheeler's office and headed for the elevator.

Once they were inside the elevator, Lacey decided to speak to Danny without being forced to. She looked over at him and his smug, self satisfactory smirk still planted on his face. "That was a low blow telling Mr. Wheeler you think we should work on more projects together." Lacey says smartly.

Danny grins and feign innocence. "I think we should work on more projects together. I also think we should share a hotel room when we leave town." Danny says in a serious tone.

Lacey looks at him with wide eyes. "Have you lost your mind?" Lacey asks.

"Maybe." Danny says as he again licks his lips and smirks at her.

"We are NOT sharing a hotel room when we leave here." Lacey replies sardonically.

"I guess you're right." Danny says. "You're thinking about it though." Danny deadpans as he stares at the shocked expression on Lacey's face.


	3. Chapter 3

Danny watched triumphantly as the shocked expression stayed on Lacey's face for several moments. He felt like he had really gotten to her and won that round.

"I am not thinking about sharing a room with you." Lacey answers impassively.

Danny lightly chuckles. "Are you sure about that?" Danny questions slyly.

"Yes, I'm sure." Lacey responds surely.

"I wouldn't blame you if you were though." Danny replies calmly as he strokes his goatee seductively.

"Why wouldn't you blame me, Mr. Desai?" Lacey ponders as she stares at Danny while he stokes the hair on his face.

"Because I'm irresistible." Danny says as he smirks.

Lacey scoffs as the elevator finally stops on their floor. "You are not irresistible. I can resist you just fine. You are so cocky and conceited, that I find it a little off-putting, honestly." Lacey answers blithely. She steps off the elevator and waits for him to exit before she speaks again. "Where do you want to do this?"

"I'd say my office since mine is bigger. We'd be on top of each other in yours." Danny says smartly.

Lacey chooses to ignore his last statement. The Senior Analysts do have bigger offices, though Lacey knows that's not what he meant. "Ok. I have to get a few things from mine. I'll see you in 5." Lacey says as she walks away and doesn't even wait for his response. He may not have been able to speak anyway because he was too busy watching her walk away.

* * *

Lacey again marched to her office and shut the door. She leaned against the back of it and took a deep breath. Danny was migrating on her nerves. And this is only the first day. She has to spend the next two weeks with this cocky asshole. She wondered how she would make it through. Two whole weeks. It maddened her.

Lacey walked over to her desk and sat down. She massaged her temples and sighed heavily. She reached into her desk and got her bottle of Excedrin out. She had a damn headache and needed to do something about it before she headed to Danny's office. She took out a pill and grabbed what she needed before she left her office and went to the water cooler. She got her water and swallowed the pill and said a silent prayer that these next two weeks went smoothly. Then she tried to take it back and decided to take it one day at a time, starting with now. She would put away her animosity towards Danny for the sake of her job and that project. While she was standing with her eyes closed, Phoebe walked up to her.

"Lacey are you alright?" Phoebe asked as she put water into her bottle.

Lacey opened her eyes slowly and was silently thankful that it wasn't Whitney. She wasn't in the mood for her picking with her. "I'm fine. I just have a headache. Thanks for asking." Lacey says as she smiles at her quirky friend.

"You're already stressed about working with Danny, aren't you?" Phoebe asks in concern.

"Yes. And I'm trying not to be." Lacey admits.

Phoebe rubs her on her shoulder and smiles. "It'll be ok, Lacey. Don't worry." Phoebe says as she tries to assure her friend.

Lacey smiles back at her. "Thanks, Phoebe. I'll see you later. Duty calls." Lacey says as she walks away. She heads towards Danny's office and stops to take a deep breath before she knocks on his door even though it's already open. Danny was sitting at his desk and seemed to be lost in thought. He leered at Lacey and never spoke, causing Lacey to speak to him. "Can I come in? You seem preoccupied." Lacey offers.

"Of course. Sorry about that." Danny says as he stands. He nervously puts his hands in the pockets of his pants and again just looks at Lacey longingly.

Lacey just looks at him and wonders why he suddenly seems so nervous and timid. It's not like the ridiculously cocky Danny Desai to be nervous. "Are you ok?" Lacey questions although she has convinced herself she doesn't really care. He's prolonging things and she doesn't have time for that.

_God, she's beautiful. I just wish we didn't hate each other. _Danny thinks until Lacey's question interrupts him. He takes his hands out of his pockets and nervously runs his hand through his hair. "Yes. I just got a little lost in thought. Come over and have a seat. As you can see, I cleared off my desk to give us room to work. I hope you approve." Danny says.

"Thanks." Lacey says as she comes and sits in the chair adjacent to his. "Where do we start?" Lacey asks.

Danny walks over and shuts his office door and that causes Lacey to raise her eyebrow at his actions. "Anywhere you'd like." Danny says almost seductively.

Lacey ignores his suggestion. "I guess we should start on their financial reports. Do you think it will be easier to start with one company and then we combine notes, or we each take one and combine?" Lacey asks inquisitively.

"I say we focus on one. That way we're on the same page." Danny replies.

"I think you're right." Lacey says.

"Of course I am." Danny replies with a smirk.

Lacey gets up from her seat and walks over to the boxes that are still on the cart. She removes the lid and reaches in to pull out a stack of papers. Danny intentionally walked over and reached in at the same time and his hand again purposely brushed hers. Lacey pretended not to feel the heat radiating through her body when their hands touched. She just took her stack and walked back over to her seat. Danny was a little disappointed that their exchange didn't do anything for her, but it was still early in the game. They still had two weeks together. Danny felt optimistic that she would at least not hate his guts at the end of this project.

Danny went and sat in his seat in silence. He watched as Lacey pulled her glasses from the case and put them on. They were an oversized pair with black frames that looked adorable on her. They seemed to make her look vulnerable and innocent.

"I didn't know you wore glasses." Danny says to try and make nice with the beautiful monster.

"I don't. But going over papers with tiny print is a little heavy on the eyes." Lacey says.

"They look good on you. They make you look younger." Danny admits.

Lacey smiles nervously. "Are you saying I look old? Because I'm only 26." Lacey answers to try to keep the peace.

"No, not at all. I'm just saying they look good on you and make you look younger." Danny says.

Danny slowly started to roll up his sleeves and Lacey pretended she didn't notice how strong his forearms looked or the veins that ran through them. Danny reached into his desk drawer and pulled out a hairtie. "Do you need any highlighters or anything?" Danny asked as he coyly placed his hair into a bun and stared into Lacey's eyes.

Lacey swallowed. "Nope, I've got some." Lacey says as she pulls one from her small bag she placed on the floor beside her foot.

Danny smiled to toy with her. "Great. Let's do this." Danny says with enthusiasm. They slowly started to get into their groove of going over the many, many data sheets they had to go through. Danny tried not to focus on Lacey's full lips as she unconsciously put her highlighter into her mouth while she was reading. It was no use though. Her lips were seriously turning him on. He watched in silence as she took the highlighter from her mouth and placed it on the desk. She then started to unbutton her suit jacket while never taking her eyes off the paper she was reading. Danny noticed that she was wearing a white silk camisole under her suit jacket. He zeroed in on her breasts as she put the jacket on the back of the chair. He wanted to put them in the palm of his hands. Danny absently licked his lips and looked up to see Lacey looking at him strangely. Danny cleared his throat and looked back down at his papers. They continued to work in a sexually tense filled silence until there's a knock on Danny's door. Danny gets up to go and answer it and Valerie, the company slut, walks straight in and stops dead in her tracks when she spots Lacey.

"Am I imposing?" Valerie asks as she looks from Danny to Lacey.

"Not at all." Lacey says as she stands. She gathers her things and prepares to leave. "I'll leave you two alone. I'm heading to lunch, Mr. Desai. I'll be back after I finish." Lacey says as she leaves without a response from Danny.

Danny was disappointed that Valerie interrupted them and had no intention of hiding his discomfort. Valerie noticed how disappointed Danny looked when Lacey left. She wasn't at all jealous because she didn't care about Danny. She cared about his money. She and everybody else already knew he was rich before he started working there. At the least, she just wanted to sleep with him. His wallet and his penis were her only concerns. Maybe the hair. She already noticed the way he forgot about her earlier when Lacey walked past while they were talking. And now, the way he looked at Lacey leave and the way he looked like a sad little boy being dropped off at school for the first time.

"Why did you tell me to meet you for lunch if you were busy with her?" Valerie asks in annoyance. There are other guys in the building she could be spending time with, and he's wasting hers.

"I didn't know I'd be busy with her. We just got put on a project together this morning." Danny says in his own annoyed tone. He now realized that he wanted Valerie out of his face and his office. He was making progress with Lacey and she ruined it.

"From the looks and sounds of things, you don't want me here. Am I right?" Valerie asks sourly.

Danny avoids her question. "What are you talking about, Valerie?" Danny asks. He's still annoyed that she interrupted him and Lacey.

"Nothing, Danny. See you around." Valerie says as she leaves Danny's office. Danny didn't care at all.

He wanted Lacey to come back.

* * *

Lacey went to Phoebe's office and found her and Whitney getting ready to head to the eatery on the first floor of the building.

"Oh, there you are. We thought you'd be having lunch with Danny." Whitney says comically.

"He's having sex with Valerie. What do you guys have in mind for lunch?" Lacey asks as she avoids dwelling on Whitney's need to continue to tease her.

"What? He's having sex with Valerie?" Whitney asks in amazement.

"Probably. That's what she's good at. I didn't want to watch or intrude on that." Lacey says flippantly.

"You're not jealous, are you?" Whiney inquires.

"No, I'm not jealous. Are you kidding me Whitney?" Lacey asks incredulously.

Phoebe decides to change the subject. "I want a cheeseburger." Phoebe says. "I'm dying for one, actually."

"What about you, Whitney?" Lacey asks as she cuts her eyes at her animated friend.

"The same." Whitney says.

"Then I guess it'll be a cheeseburger day. We can share fries." Lacey suggests.

"Off to lunch we go." Phoebe says happily. The three exit Phoebe's office and head to the elevator. They make their way downstairs and head to Five Guys and get their cheeseburgers. They sit at a table and Whitney immediately starts drilling Lacey.

"So, how is it going working with your work boyfriend?" Whitney asks as she takes a bite of her burger.

"As good as can be expected. And he is NOT my work boyfriend." Lacey says as she bites into a fry.

"So I guess your headache went away." Phoebe says as she sips her Diet Coke.

"Yup. That Excedrin I took really did its job." Lacey says.

"I don't want to talk about your headache. I want to talk about why you two were in his office with the door closed for hours. Were you two really working?" Whitney asks accusingly.

Lacey takes a bite of her burger to deflect answering. She then hears Whitney start to talk again.

"Look who just walked in." Whitney says as her eyes focus on Danny as he walks by. Phoebe and Lacey turn to look in the same direction as Whitney. "Danny! Over here!" Whitney says as she waves him over.

Lacey almost chokes on her food. "What in the hell are you doing, Whitney?" Lacey asks through almost a mouth full of food. She normally wouldn't talk with her mouth full, but this moment called for it.

"Inviting De-Dreamy over to join us for lunch." Whitney says and actually smiles at Lacey.

"Don't invite him over here!" Lacey whispers loudly.

Danny has made his way over to their table. "Hello ladies." Danny says as he smiles at them. Phoebe actually started to blush although she really didn't mean to. Lacey took a forceful sip of her iced tea.

"We were wondering if you'd join us for lunch, right Lacey?" Whitney asks as she playfully winks at Lacey.

"You were. I didn't want him to join us." Lacey says in aggravation.

Danny smirks at Lacey's comment. "In that case, I insist on joining you." Danny says as he sits down next to Whitney and directly across from Lacey.

"How was your quickie?" Lacey asks as she glowered at him.

Phoebe eyes widen in either shock or surprise. Or both. "Lacey! How could you ask him something like that?" Phoebe questions as she practically scolds Lacey.

"What? I was just asking a question." Lacey replies innocently.

Danny winks and reaches to grab a fry from Lacey's container just to irritate her. "It was great." Danny asks. Lacey frowns at either him taking her fry or his admission to having a quickie with Valerie. Phoebe starts coughing loudly. None of them expected him to say that.

"Wow." Is all Whitney can say.

Lacey got a bad taste in her mouth. "I just lost my appetite." Lacey says as she takes another sip of her iced tea and swished it around before swallowing as if it would somehow remove the bad taste from her mouth.

"Great. More for me." Danny says as he takes her container of fries and finishes them. He then takes her burger and finishes it.

Lacey gives him a slack-jawed expression. "How can you just eat behind me like that? I could have a disease for all you know." Lacey questions as she drinks more of her iced tea.

"What? I doubt you have anything. It won't matter when we start sleeping together anyway. I'd be doing more than eating behind you." Danny says as he stares straight into her eyes with an insolent expression on his face.

Lacey exhales sharply and stands to leave without a word.

"Lacey, wait!" Phoebe says though it's useless. Lacey is too miffed to stay.

Whitney thought that exchange was hilarious. She could cut the sexual tension with a knife.

Danny just hunched his shoulders and winked at Whitney as he grabbed Lacey's drink to finish it.

* * *

Lacey got onto the elevator with fury in her eyes. _How dare he? _Lacey wondered as she pressed her floor. She rode up in the elevator mad as hell at Danny and Whitney. She went to her office to cool off before she returned to Danny's. Her headache was back in full force. She sat at her desk in the dark and took deep breaths as she massaged her temples. She didn't want to take another pill, but she knew that she would more than likely need a drink that night when she got home. She decided she wasn't going to let Danny and his bull stress her out any more. After sitting alone with her thoughts, she begrudgingly made her way back to Danny's office. When she stepped into the doorway, he appeared to be waiting for her. Lacey just walked in quietly and sat in her seat. Danny got up and again closed his office door. He walked back over to his desk and sat down and glanced at Lacey. He could tell she was mad, even though she always seemed to be mad at him. He approached the topic cautiously.

"Lacey, I was just kidding. I didn't have a quickie with Valerie." Danny says.

Lacey looks up with a doe eyed expression on her face. "Oh, you think I care. I'm so not sorry, but I really do not care what you did or didn't do with Valerie. What you do with your penis is your business." Lacey says as she returns to focusing on the papers in front of her.

"But what I want to do with my penis has to do with you. So it is your business." Danny says.

Lacey stops what she's doing and eyes him dead on with a dour expression on her face. He stares back at her, neither one of them backing down. "I'm going to pretend you didn't say that." Lacey says as she goes back to her work.

"But I did say it. And you're wondering what I want to do with my penis." Danny says smugly.

"I am not." Lacey says without looking up.

"Whatever Lacey. You and I both know that is not true. But keep trying to convince yourself that it is. Maybe it will come true one day." Danny says as he starts working on their project.

* * *

Danny and Lacey finished their first day working together in relative silence. Lacey was happy when their day was finally over and she could get away from Danny and go home. She put on some classical music in her car to relax her. She didn't want to enter her house stressed. She wanted to leave it all behind and deal with it again when she got to work the next day. A smile appeared on her face as she pulled into her driveway. She entered her house and heard the tv blaring. He was sitting on the couch watching a basketball game. Lacey went over and sat next to him and put her head on her boyfriend's shoulder.

"Hey babe. Rough day?" Archie asks as he kisses her forehead.

Lacey sighed. "Rough isn't even the word." Lacey says as she feels him wrap his arm around her.


	4. Chapter 4

Archie continued to rub Lacey's shoulder as a way to comfort her. Lacey let out a series of deep breaths which caused Archie to turn off the tv. He really wanted to watch the game, but he sensed that Lacey needed him.

"Wow, you really did have a rough day, huh?" Archie asks.

"Yes. I had two headaches." Lacey says as she breathes out heavily.

"What happened to cause you to have two headaches?" Archie questions.

"I got put on a huge assignment with someone I'm not that crazy about working with. And I found out that I'll be out of town all next week." Lacey says.

"All next week? Will you be going with the person that you aren't that crazy about working with too?" Archie asks.

"Yes. I already hate working with him, and now I have to go out of town with him. For a whole week." Lacey says as she rubs her forehead. She feels her headache returning just thinking about Danny.

"This guy has you this stressed out? Why do you hate working with him?" Archie asks.

Lacey exhales sharply. She can't say the real reason why. Archie wouldn't understand. "Because he's a pompous jackass. He just gets under my skin. I hate that he gets to me because he seems to enjoy it." Lacey says and hopes Archie doesn't take it the wrong way.

"What does he do to get under your skin? Does he hit on you or something?" Archie asks quizzically.

"No, he doesn't hit on me." Lacey lies. "He just thinks he knows everything and it's annoying. And he goes out of his way to undermine me because he's a Senior Analyst and I'm a Junior." Lacey lies again. Danny actually is really good at his job, as Lacey learned. She never really doubted that before. Her perception of him was a little different from what she was getting to really know about him. And that was annoying Lacey to no end. She's starting to think she may have been wrong about Danny or just wrong in how she treats him. That caused her to sigh heavily again.

"Yeah, I know the type. One of the guys I work with is like that. But you shouldn't let it get to you or stress you out." Archie says reassuringly.

Lacey smiles. "I won't. How was your trip?" Lacey asks.

"Great. Pretty slow. That's why I'm here before you. I just came straight here from the airport instead of going home. I'm only free a day and a half before I'm out again. I missed you." Archie says as he kisses her forehead again.

"That's good to hear. I missed you too. Are you staying tonight?" Lacey asks hopefully. She needs to de-stress, and Archie might be able to help with that.

"I planned on it." Archie responds.

"Good. Do you have something in mind for dinner?" Lacey asks as she starts to sit up.

"Not really. Are you cooking?" Archie asks.

"Yeah, I only ate half my lunch." Lacey says.

"Why?" Archie asks in concern.

"I just lost my appetite in the middle of eating for some strange reason." Lacey says as she just looks over at Archie and starts to study him for a minute.

"What? Why are you looking at me like that?" Archie asks.

"Have you ever thought about growing your hair long?" Lacey asks as she grins sort of mischievously.

* * *

When Danny returned to his condo that evening, he was a little on edge. He wanted to kick himself for joking with Lacey about having a quickie with Valerie. He got the sense that Lacey didn't appreciate that at all. He recalled the way she just stopped eating her food. And then the way she just got up and left when he mentioned them sleeping together. He thinks he may have went too far. Being that cocky might not work on a woman like Lacey. And then Danny started to think that it didn't really matter because Lacey hated him any way. Even when he was nice to her. She still treated him like he had a disease. It was starting to get to him. He convinced himself that he didn't like her either, and that was only because she doesn't like him. Truthfully, he didn't hate Lacey. He hated how she treated him. He thought she was so beautiful and he hated that she hated him. A series of misunderstanding and assumptions had brought them to this point.

Danny walked into his bedroom and turned on his tv. He needed to hear chatter so that he wasn't completely alone with his thoughts. He started to loosen his tie and unbuttoned his shirt. He completely undressed and headed for his shower. He was tense and needed to loosen up. If the shower didn't do the trick, he may have needed a scotch or something to aide in his relaxation. Lacey being on his mind was doing something to him. It started to knead at him that this woman got this under his skin. No other woman was able to do that. He wondered what that meant. He stepped his fully naked body into the shower and let the water run over him. He let it completely soak his head. He had the crazy thought that the water would somehow seep into his head and get Lacey off of his mind. The more he stood in the shower, the more he thought about her and how that was a bad thing. He just spent his day with a woman that barely talked to him. A woman that turned him on like no other. A woman that aroused him to brink of explosion. Just thinking about her then caused him to get aroused. He pictured her full lips and how soft they looked. He thought of the way she smelled. Her perfume was very light and subtle, but smelled wonderful. He wanted to bury his face in her neck and smell her while he touched her. He thought of how she looked in that red suit, and how she looked when she took the jacket off. The skirt seemed to hug her in all the right places. He just wanted to slide it up and rub his hands up and down her thighs and across her butt. He wanted to slide her panties aside and put his fingers inside of her.

Danny continued to think about the ravishing and extremely beautiful Lacey Porter as the water continued to pour over his head and wet his body. He was so engrossed in thinking about Lacey that it took Danny feeling like he wasn't alone to realize that he had begun to touch himself while daydreaming and fantasizing about Lacey. He wanted her to be in the shower with him and that it was her hands touching him. He wanted other parts of her to touch him. And he wanted to touch every part of her. She was extremely sexy and intoxicating and it was driving Danny insane.

He finished up in the shower and wrapped a towel around his waist. He was running a second towel through his long tresses when he looked in the mirror. He got a bad feeling about what he was about to do. But he chalked it up to just playing a game. They had played this game before, but this time it had a distinct purpose. He wasn't going to beat himself up for it. Human beings are users, and he had most definitely been used by women in the past. It was all a part of the song and dance. He knew that he was attractive to women and some women only wanted to be with him because of that. He also knew that he was rich and women loved that about him too. All a part of the game.

Danny left his bedroom and went to get his phone. He called the woman he thought would help take his mind off of his desire for Lacey. They had an arrangement. They could call each other whenever they needed some tuning. She picked up after three rings. Danny got straight to the point. "I need to see you." Danny says into the phone.

"After all this time?" She asks.

"Yes. I need to see you. And I need you to do something for me." Danny says.

"Something like what?" She asks.

"To play this game with me. Can you do that?" Danny asks seductively.

"What's in it for me?" She asks.

"You already know the answer to that." Danny says.

"I'll see you in an hour." She says and hangs up.

Danny ate some quick leftover takeout he had in his fridge as he waited for the arrival of his guest. Almost right on time, she arrived. She walked into his place and looked around. It looked the same as she remembered.

"Hello, Danny. I see things haven't changed. Your hair is longer though." She says as she goes to sit on his sofa.

Danny ignores what she's saying. He didn't invite her over to talk. "Are you ready?"

"You don't waste any time, do you? Yes, I'm ready. What is this little game you want to play?" She asks.

Danny smirks and leads her to his bedroom. "You can't talk, and tonight your name is Lacey." Danny says as he turned off his lights so that it was too dark to see.

* * *

After Lacey decided what she was going to fix for dinner, Lacey left Archie to watch his game and headed for her bedroom. She needed a hot shower to relax before she started cooking. She was stressed out. She had too many thoughts going through her mind. She was starting to feel a little guilty. She couldn't believe she asked Archie if he ever though about growing his hair longer. She tried unsuccessfully to convince herself that it was just a thought, but she knew that wasn't true. She was just glad that Archie didn't know the reason why she asked him that. She had to play it off and say she just thought about seeing him with longer hair. So untrue. She was thinking about Danny's hair.

Lacey undressed and got into her shower. She made the water as hot as she could stand it. She started to wash her body with the ridiculously creamy body wash her mother bought her. She didn't have to use much because it was so rich. She started to let her mind wander, and it made her mad that it came back to the man she hated. She hated thinking about him. And now he was invading her mind while she took her shower. Lacey got a little carried away as she let her hands travel her soft skin. She started imagining that Danny's hands were touching her. She closed her eyes and tried to shake that image from her head. She started remembering being in his office with him. Sitting across from him, pretending not to notice him watching her. Pretending not to notice that he licked his lips when he stared at hers. She thought of his hands again. She remembered when their hands touched when they reached into the boxes. She thought of how she pretended not to notice the thickness of his fingers. God, she hated him. And she hated that she was worked up thinking about him. She almost took herself over the edge, and realized she needed more than just her soft, delicate hands. She now hated herself for fantasizing about Danny while she was in her shower and Archie was right downstairs.

She finished up and stepped out of her shower and went to the top of her stairs. What Archie didn't know wouldn't hurt him. "Archie. Arch! I need you." Lacey called her boyfriend of a year and a half.

She heard him jogging towards the stairs. "Yeah. Is everything ok?" Archie asks as she stands at the bottom of the stairs.

"I need you." Lacey says. More like she wanted Danny, but Archie will do. God she hated herself for this.

Archie started to smile. "Need me. How?" Archie asks.

Lacey just opened her towel and Archie practically ran up the stairs. Lacey got on the bed in the position so that they had sex with him behind her. It was better that way.

* * *

The next morning, Lacey awoke with a feeling of dread. She hated that she pretty much used Archie to satisfy her lust for Danny. She didn't know or understand why she was lusting after Danny when she hated his guts. He was so cocky, and annoying, and arrogant, and conceited that it made her sick. Then she started thinking that maybe he was that cocky, arrogant, and conceited because he was covering up for something. Maybe he was inadequate in an area. Maybe he sucked in bed. Maybe he had an incredibly tiny penis. Lacey giggled to herself. That had to be it. She started to feel better. Lacey had to be quiet because Archie was still asleep resting up for his business trip. Lacey went to her closet and found a white ruched dress that again fit her like a glove. She paired it off with black and white leopard print suede pumps. She pulled her hair into a sleek side ponytail and headed out to start her day.

Lacey felt better than she did the previous morning. She still blasted lively music on her drive to work. She was going to face the day with a better attitude. She was stuck with Danny, so she might as well make the best of it. She pulled into the building's garage and headed inside. She again stopped at Starbucks because coffee was a staple for her in the morning. She didn't see Danny lingering and flirting like he had the day before. She headed up to her office and stepped off the elevator and headed to her office. She was in there only a second before Whitney came in.

"Good morning, Lacey. You look stunning today. I wonder why." Whitney quips as she sits down in Lacey's chair.

Lacey wasn't going to let Whitney know she's getting to her, so she decides to play along. "Good morning, Whitney. Thank you. And I decided to put on something to match how good I feel." Lacey says as she puts her purse in her desk.

"Why are you feeling so good?" Whitney asks.

"No reason. Archie and I had a pretty good night, but nothing spectacular." Lacey says.

"Archie, huh? The guy you're just kind of crazy about?" Whitney asks.

"I never said that." Lacey says.

"You don't have to." Whitney says.

"Don't start. He makes me happy." Lacey says to her defense.

"I'll bet he does. But he's not Danny." Whitney says.

"I'm glad he isn't Danny. I don't want to feel for him the way I feel for Danny." Lacey says.

"When are you going to stop lying to yourself about how you really feel about Danny?" Whitney questions.

"What? I'm not lying to myself about how I feel about Danny. I don't like him. He annoys me." Lacey says.

Whitney just looks at her without blinking. She just shakes her head and gets up to leave Lacey's office. "Keep telling yourself that. I'll see you later." Whitney says before she leaves Lacey's office.

Lacey does what she has to before she gathers what she needs and heads to Danny's office. She knocks and sees Cole inside Danny's office. They're again talking about basketball. Danny looks up to see Lacey and stops talking abruptly. "Good morning. I can come back if you're busy." Lacey says as she looks at Danny and Cole. Danny is still staring at her and hasn't said a word.

Cole answers for him. He realizes that his friend might be blinded by Lacey's appearance. Even Cole had to admit she looked stunning in that white dress. Even better than she did in the red suit. He understands why Danny has it bad. "Good morning, Lacey. Come on in. We were just talking about the game. Right, Danny?" Cole says as he looks at Danny. Danny still hasn't responded. "Danny!" Cole practically yells.

Danny finally comes out of his daze. "Yeah. Right. Good morning, Lacey." Danny says.

Lacey slowly steps into the office. Cole takes that as his cue to leave. "I'll see you guys later." Cole says before leaving.

Danny walked over to shut his office door. He comes back and is still taken aback by how pretty Lacey looks. "You look great today." Danny says sincerely.

Lacey blushes despite herself. "Thank you. I try." Lacey says light-heartedly.

"You don't have to try. You always look great." Danny says.

Lacey smiles painfully. "Ready to get started?" Lacey asks.

"Yes." Danny says. They go back to what they were doing the day before by going over the financial reports. Danny can't control himself it seems. He's again focusing on her full lips. He wanted to kiss them. He wanted to try and get her to talk to him. "Lacey, I just wanted to apologize for what I said yesterday. I shouldn't have told you I wanted to do things to you. With my penis. That was inappropriate." Danny says. He didn't mean it because he really wants to do something, no a lot of things to her with his penis.

"It's fine Danny. I can't say I haven't thought about it too." Lacey says and immediately realizes her mistake. She closed her mouth and mumbled, "Damn" under her breath.

Danny takes that time to laugh. "So you've thought about sleeping with me?" Danny asks.

"No. I was kidding." Lacey says and goes back to her papers.

"No, you weren't. You've thought about sleeping with me. Just admit it." Danny teases.

"There's nothing to admit." Lacey says.

"I know you're just pretending to hate me." Danny says.

Lacey put down her highlighter. "You know what Danny, screw you! I'm outta here." Lacey says as she stands and grabs her things.

Danny goes to stand in front of the door to stop her from leaving. "Lacey. I'm sorry. I was an ass, ok? I take it back." Danny says as he puts his hands up as a way to plead with her.

Lacey isn't hearing it though. She walks over to the door and stands right in front of him. "Move." Lacey says harshly.

Danny decides to do something bold. He leaned forward and kissed her. Lacey dropped her things as Danny swooped her up in his arms and they almost fall against the door. Lacey got so caught up in the kiss that she forgot that she hated Danny and that she has a boyfriend. She then comes to her senses and pulls away from him and slaps him. Danny enjoyed the kiss so much, he didn't mind her slapping him. She didn't slap him hard any way. "I'm sorry." Danny says, though he isn't. He'd do it again in a heartbeat.

"You should be. How could you just kiss me like that?" Lacey asks. She's mad that it happened and that she liked it.

"I couldn't resist. And you did kiss me back." Danny admits.

"I know. And I shouldn't have done that." Lacey says.

"Why? We're both single adults." Danny says.

"I'm not single, Danny. I have a boyfriend." Lacey says.

Danny really didn't care that she had a boyfriend. Boyfriends could be replaced.

_Game on. _Danny thought.


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note: I had a lot of people assume that the woman Danny called was Jo. No, he didn't. Jo Masterson is as good as dead in this fic. She will NEVER make an appearance in this story. She's in enough Dacey stories already. I feel like I explain that I'm not here for Jo too much. I really hate even typing her damn name now. Danny will never, NEVER, EVER sleep with Jo in a fic I write. I wrote him pretending to be her boyfriend, and he ended up killing her in that one. So, to make my point perfectly clear, this is a Dacey fic. Jo Masterson has no business in a Dacey fic unless she's being tortured. That's just my opinion though.**

**Thanks for reading. Reviews are hugs! Enjoy!**

* * *

Danny stood staring at Lacey and really wondered why he initially thought that a woman as beautiful as Lacey wouldn't have a man in her life. Of course she had a boyfriend. Then that made him uneasy. That meant she probably was getting laid. Danny suddenly felt sick and angry at the thought of another man being with her the way that he wanted to be with her. He felt silly for thinking that that's what she needed all that time. And then Danny's cocky side took over. He started thinking that she acted that way because she hadn't been laid by him. That made Danny poke his chest out a little further. He knew he'd win Lacey over in time. Although she did slap him, she kissed him back before she slapped him. It might have been one step forward and two steps back, but Danny considered himself in the race. He started thinking about that kiss again. Not necessarily the best kiss he ever had, but close. And when he really made her his, he knew the kisses were going to get even better. Now Danny had to pour on the charm. He could win an award for his charisma. He was irresistible to women, and Lacey was no exception. He just proved that. He knew that she didn't hate him as much as she claimed. It was all a matter of time before she felt extremely different about him.

"I'm sorry, Lacey. I didn't know you had a boyfriend." Danny lies. He didn't know she had a boyfriend, but he isn't sorry about kissing her. Not at all.

"It's fine. How could you know? It's not like we're friends." Lacey says as she starts to pick up the things she dropped when Danny kissed her.

"Here, let me help you." Danny says as he bends down to help her. They both stood up and looked at each other awkwardly. "I shouldn't be surprised that you have a boyfriend though." Danny says as he stares at her.

"What do you mean by that, Danny?" Lacey asks.

"I just mean that you're a very beautiful woman and I'm not surprised that you have someone." Danny says almost nervously.

"Thank you. But you shouldn't be single either. I thought you'd have women lined up waiting to get with you. You sure are the company hottie from what I've heard." Lacey says and slightly blushes as she puts her head down.

"No, I'm single. And you heard I'm the company hottie?" Danny asks in a teasing tone.

"Yes, that's what I've heard." Lacey says. "I don't think so though." Lacey lies.

"Then why did you kiss me back?" Danny asks as he raises his eyebrow as he looks at her.

Lacey smiles awkwardly. "I think we should get back to work." Lacey says as she changes the subject and walks back over to her seat. She gets back to work without a word. Danny just looks at her and goes back to his seat.

Danny sits quietly for several minutes before speaking. "So, you're just going to ignore my question?" Danny asks.

Lacey looks up in surprise. "What question?" Lacey asks while clearly trying to pretend she has no idea what Danny is talking about.

"That kiss. I want to know why you kissed me back." Danny says.

Lacey exhales sharply. "Danny, that kiss was a mistake. I have a boyfriend." Lacey says as she locks eyes with him.

"It didn't feel like a mistake though." Danny says as he looks at her wearily.

"What do you want from me, Danny?" Lacey asks almost harshly.

"I want you to be honest with me and yourself." Danny says.

"About what, Danny?" Lacey asks.

"Why you've been so mean and nasty to me for years? Why you treat me like I've done something to you? Why you act like you hate me? Why act like you hate me when it's obvious you don't?" Danny asks.

Lacey doesn't want to answer these questions, so she throws it back at him. "What about you? I've heard that you hate me too. So you can't put this all on me." Lacey says defensively.

"Yeah, I pretended to hate you because you hate me. And I said I thought you might need to get laid, but that's irrelevant." Danny says.

Lacey is a little shocked by his admissions. "You think I need to get laid? Are you serious?" Lacey asks incredulously.

"Yeah, I thought that. And I was willing to help you out." Danny says as he flashes her a smile.

Lacey scoffs. "I don't need your help with that, so don't flatter yourself." Lacey says.

"You might not think you need my help, but you do." Danny says as he smirks at her.

Lacey puts down her pen and looks at him with a slightly disgusted look on her face. "I think I know what you mean by that, and you are a cocky bastard. But I'll let you keep thinking you're the best thing walking. I wouldn't want to take that away from you." Lacey says as she picks her pen back up and goes back to working.

"I wouldn't say things like that if I couldn't back it up." Danny counters as he waits for her reaction.

"Maybe people have just been lying to you. You're so cocky that if somebody told you that you were bad in the sack, you probably wouldn't believe it." Lacey says as she smirks at him.

"Well, Lacey. There's only one way to find that out." Danny replies.

Lacey gets a little flustered. But she decides to play along. "If you weren't so arrogant, I just might. But I'm not giving you the satisfaction." Lacey says.

"You would be satisfied though." Danny says as he flashes her another smile.

"Whatever Danny. And to think, I was going to apologize for slapping you." Lacey says as she gives him a defiant and slack-jawed expression.

"You don't have to apologize because I liked it. I like that I brought out your wild side." Danny says.

"Next time I'll just knee you in the balls. I'll bet you won't like that, now will you?" Lacey asks with a huge smile on her face.

"Lacey, if you want to grab my crotch, all you have to do is ask. I'd let you." Danny says.

Lacey is once again shocked by what he has to say. "I do not want to grab your crotch." Lacey lies.

"That's what your mouth says. We both know better." Danny says. "And now I'm going to stop bothering you, so we can get our work done." Danny says as he and Lacey get engrossed in their work. They work for about another hour in the sexually tense filled silence they have both become accustomed to. Until Lacey finds something in the paperwork she's going over.

"These reports seem a little off to me. Take a look at this. There seems to be a huge profit drop at exactly the same time each quarter. Does that make sense to you?" Lacey asks.

"No, it doesn't. How many times have you noticed that?" Danny asks.

"Three times. I thought it was strange with the first two, but now this third one really raises a red flag. Let me find the other two." Lacey says as she goes back through the papers she went through previously. Since she highlighted them, they were easy to find. "I found them. Here, take a look." Lacey says as she gets up to take the papers around to him. Once Lacey got really close to him, she realized that that probably wasn't a good idea for her to be that close to him. She should have just stayed in her seat. She noticed how good he smelled. She already knew that he wore cologne, but it wasn't strong. It smelled good and smelled even better up close. Whatever cologne it was, it really matched his body chemistry because Lacey knew for certain that whatever it was, it would stink on another man. She was too into the kiss to notice anything else. It was one hell of a kiss. She wanted to kick herself for reciprocating. She had a boyfriend. But Archie's kisses weren't like Danny's kisses. She got a little distracted and came back to reality. Then she got distracted again when she got a better view and smell of his hair. She wondered just what he used on it. She then wondered if he wore it out during sex. Lacey wanted to kick herself again for thinking that. And then as she was standing practically on top of him, she noticed that he was aroused. And he didn't have an incredibly tiny penis like she almost hoped that morning.

Lacey's breasts were practically in Danny's face as he looked at the financial reports. He instantly got aroused. And then he again noticed how wonderful she smelled and it made it worse. He then thought about that kiss. The kiss he was glad he was bold enough to go for. The way her full lips felt pressed against his almost drove him crazy. He knew that he was just about addicted to this woman, and it would only take getting her to get her out of his system. That little game he played with Deirdre did nothing for him. Having her in his bed and pretending she was Lacey did nothing. His desire for Lacey was still strong. He wanted Lacey Porter. And her boyfriend wasn't going to stop him. He didn't get as far as he was in life by being timid and not going after what he wants. He was a go getter. Kind of like a lion. King of the jungle. If he wanted something he worked for it and got it. Danny didn't like not getting what he wanted. He of course knew when no meant no, but he knew that he wasn't accepting no from Lacey. If she really didn't want anything to do with him, she wouldn't entertain the cocky trash talking that he's doing now. Danny almost always got what he wanted. Lacey was no exception.

They both stared at the reports but weren't even reading the information that was on those papers. They were too enveloped into each other. Something that could become a problem if they let it. They had a job to do. This was not the time to be so enamored with each other. They would never finish and they had a lot to do before they went out of town. Really, they had only three whole days to compile all of their data unless they worked together on the weekend. Danny shook his head and let his senses return to him. "What am I supposed to be looking at?" Danny asks as he stops and looks up at Lacey.

Lacey seemed to be lost in thought too. "I'm sorry, what?" Lacey asked.

"I forgot what I'm supposed to be looking for. I'm not trying to sound like a dick, but could you go back over there? You're distracting me." Danny says honestly.

Lacey wasn't fazed by what he said because he was distracting her too." Sure. No problem." Lacey says as she walks back to her seat. "You're supposed to look at the dip in the profits. I highlighted them." Lacey says as she smiles weakly.

"Oh. Right." Danny says as he looks them over. "I see exactly what you're talking about and that was a good catch. Now we just have to figure out what that means. We really have to study the other reports and compare. There has to be a reason why their profit margin pretty much vanished at the same time. Hopefully, nobody is ripping the company off." Danny says.

"That would totally suck if that were true. I don't want to uncover a conspiracy." Lacey says.

"I know, me neither. But you did a really good job catching that. I'm impressed." Danny says truthfully.

"Thank you. I appreciate that." Lacey says as she smiles and locks eyes with the man she knows might cause her to get herself into trouble.

* * *

Danny and Lacey continued to work on their reports until lunch time. They were both famished and needed to eat before they both passed out. Danny had a crazy thought.

"Well Ms. Porter. Since you don't really hate me, how about we have lunch together?" Danny suggests.

"I never said I didn't hate you." Lacey says as she grins.

"Come on Lacey, we both know that is not the truth. You don't hate me and you know it." Danny says.

"Ok, maybe hate isn't the right word. I just strongly dislike you." Lacey says.

"I strongly dislike you too. So how about it? Lunch. My treat." Danny says as he flashes his sexy smile.

"Ok, but you do know that this isn't a date, right? In case you forgot, I have to remind you that I have a boyfriend." Lacey says.

"I'm very aware that you have a boyfriend, Lacey. This is just lunch between colleagues that strongly dislike each other." Danny replies.

"Good. I have to run to the ladies room and get my purse from my office. I'll meet you in the lobby in ten minutes." Lacey says as she prepares to leave his office.

"I can't wait." Danny says as he watches Lacey walk away and leave his office. Her in that white dress was turning him into a juvenile just going through puberty. He kept getting uncontrollable erections around her. He was able to hide them while sitting at his desk, but what about when they were outside his office? He understood it but couldn't believe she turned him on that much.

Lacey walked to her office on the other side and spotted Whitney and Phoebe walking their way towards her.

"Hey Lacey. How are you today?" Phoebe asks as she smiles at Lacey.

"I'm great. How are you?" Lacey asks.

"Great, but I'm so hungry I could eat anything." Phoebe says.

"I know. Me too." Lacey says as she giggles. The two women follow her into her office as Lacey gets hers purse and puts her other bag on her desk.

"Are you joining us for lunch?" Whitney asks.

Lacey seems a little embarrassed. "Not today. I'm having lunch with someone else." Lacey says sheepishly.

Whitney almost laughs. "Who are you having lunch with?" Whitney asks and can't wait to hear Lacey's answer.

Lacey exhales and closes her eyes. "I'm having lunch with Danny, ok?" Lacey says.

"Dammit." Phoebe says as Whitney starts to laugh.

"I knew it! I knew it!" Whitney says animatedly.

Lacey looks from Whitney to Phoebe. "What's with that response, Phoebe?" Lacey asks.

"Oh, nothing." Phoebe says quietly.

"No, what is it? Am I missing something?" Lacey asks in concern.

"Oh, I'll answer that. I bet Phoebe lunch that you two would be chummy and not pretending to hate each other in less than a week, and I was right." Whitney says as she almost cheers in delight.

"Excuse me? That's not funny you guys. You're supposed to be my friends." Lacey says.

"We are your friends. We also know that you hate Danny about as much as you hate us." Whitney says.

"That's where you're wrong, I hate both of you more than I hate him." Lacey says.

"Hey! Why do you hate me? I said that you wouldn't be chummy with him. That's why I lost." Phoebe says.

"How could you guys even do that though? This is so not funny." Lacey says.

"Oh lighten up and stop being so dramatic. It's not like we said you had to marry the man and have his babies. We just know that there's so much mutual attraction between you and your fake hatred of each other, and the sexual tension that I can cut with a knife, that it's only inevitable that you two would become closer since working together. Embrace it. Who knows what might happen? Stop being so closed-minded." Whitney says.

Lacey decides to ignore everything that Whitney has just said. "I need to go to the ladies room before I leave." Lacey says as she leaves her office without another word and heads for the ladies room. Lacey quickly finishes and heads for the elevator. She found Whitney and Phoebe waiting in front of the elevators waiting for her. Lacey still doesn't have anything to say to her friends that were plotting against her behind her back. They rode the elevator in silence. When they got to the lobby, Lacey found Danny waiting for her. "I'm sorry I took longer than ten minutes." Lacey says as she apologizes.

"You're worth the wait, Lacey. Hi Whitney and Phoebe." Danny says.

They both smile profusely. "Hi Danny." They say in unison. All three women start to walk towards the eatery when Danny stops Lacey.

"Lacey, where are you going?" Danny asks.

"To lunch. Where do you think I'm going?" Lacey asks.

"We're not having lunch here. We're leaving the building." Danny says as he smiles.

Lacey had an uneasy feeling. She just thought they'd have lunch at one of the restaurants in their building. She didn't think they would leave. This might not end well. But Lacey faces the music. "Ok. I'll see you gals later." Lacey says as she turns to leave the building with Danny. He led her to the garage and walked her to his car. Lacey saw that he drove a black Porsche. It seemed to suit him. Danny was the perfect gentleman when he opened the door for Lacey. She stopped before turning around and taking Danny by surprise when she kissed him. They got so deep into the kiss they wound up leaned up against the car parked next to Danny's.

They never made it to lunch.


	6. Chapter 6

Lacey kissing him really took Danny by surprise. He was not expecting that at all and loved that she took the initiative to do that. That meant he was getting closer. She wouldn't necessarily be his right then and there, but it was inevitable. And Danny was right. This kiss was better than the first. This one was deeper, longer, and more passion filled. Danny felt his back hit the car parked beside him as Lacey leaned in to him and grabbed his face. He put his arms around her and grabbed her ass to pull her closer to him. She still wasn't close enough, but that would do at that moment. Lacey pressed her body into his and immediately felt him start to get aroused again. Her surroundings were irrelevant to her. She wanted to kiss Danny and she did. She slowly but surely came to her senses when she felt Danny palm her ass with his strong hand. His hands were strong enough to pull her out of her trance. Danny had gotten to her again. _What about Archie? _Archie's face quickly came into her mind and she opened her eyes and saw that the guy she was kissing looked nothing like Archie. She stared at him a minute before she broke the kiss and pulled away.

"I'm so sorry. I got carried away. I'm sorry." Lacey says as she removes her hands from grabbing his face and tries to step back from him.

"Lacey, it's ok. I'm not sorry. I'm glad you kissed me. I'm glad you got carried away." Danny says sincerely.

"I can't believe I did that. I have a boyfriend. I can't believe I just did that to him." Lacey says.

"Lacey stop beating yourself up for that. It happens." Danny says.

Lacey takes her hands and buries her face into them. "I can't believe I did that. I'm sorry, Danny. I have to go." Lacey says as she starts to walk away.

Danny closes his car door and starts to follow her. "Lacey, wait. Lacey, don't go." Danny says as he hurries to follow her through the garage. Lacey is walking at an incredibly fast pace. He almost had to jog to catch up to her. "Lacey! Please just stop." Danny says.

Lacey turns around and he doesn't like the look on her face. "Danny. Please just let me go and be alone. I need time to myself to think." Lacey says as she smiles weakly.

"I can't just let you run off like this and not make sure you're ok." Danny says as he steps a little closer to her.

"I'm not totally ok, but I'll manage. I just need this. Please just let me go." Lacey short of pleads with him.

"Ok. I'll see you later." Danny says.

"Thanks." Lacey says as he turns and leaves the garage. She walks back into the building and heads for the elevator. She's forever grateful that it arrives soon and she gets on the elevator alone. She rode up to her floor feeling miserable. Lacey entered her office and just walked over to her desk. She couldn't believe she just did that. She couldn't believe that she just kissed Danny when she has a boyfriend. Archie didn't deserve that and she felt terrible about it. She felt like crying but felt like she didn't deserve to cry. She felt like she lost the right to cry the second she kissed Danny and hurt her relationship with Archie. People that hurt people don't deserve to feel bad. But she did. She felt like a horrible person and a sorry excise for a woman and a girlfriend. She tried to chalk it up to it just being a kiss but knew that she would be mad, hurt, and even devastated if Archie did that to her. She knew she probably would not understand if Archie kissed another woman. And she had nobody to blame for her mistake. Nobody at all. She couldn't even blame Danny for this. He kissed her the first time and true, she did kiss him back. But she is totally at fault in this. She initialed that kiss and they both know it. She betrayed Archie and their relationship and she felt really bad about that. Archie didn't deserve what she just did to him. Lacey sat in the dark and in silence for a long time before she just put her head on her desk. She knew it probably wouldn't look good for her to hole up in her office like a coward, but that's exactly what she's going to do. She needed to be alone to think about what she did. She needed to think about why she did it. She would stay in her office in silence and darkness until she understood why she just kissed a man she has claimed to hate for years when she has a boyfriend.

* * *

Danny returned to the building thinking that he wanted to check on Lacey but wanted to respect her by giving her her space. He talked a lot of trash to her, but he really respected Lacey. He took the trash talking as just a game and if she really didn't like or appreciate it, he wouldn't do it out of respect for her. He hasn't said some of the things he has said to other women though. But Lacey is truly a classy lady and he wouldn't talk to her like she's one of the guys in the locker room. He headed to the eatery to get him and Lacey sandwiches because they both hadn't eaten. He realized his mistake when Whitney and Phoebe spotted him. He knew he had to lie to them. He couldn't tell them that he and Lacey just kissed against a car in the garage and it scared her away possibly because she has a boyfriend. Or maybe she really doesn't like him, but Danny knew that wasn't the truth. She didn't kiss him like she hated him. That was just a game she played to cover her true feelings. He hated that she had a boyfriend that was standing in their way. He wouldn't have to worry about anything if she was single like he originally thought she was. Danny now hated her boyfriend and had no idea who he even was. He had Danny's woman though. That's a good enough reason to hate him as far as Danny was concerned.

They waved him over and Danny wished they hadn't seen him. He reluctantly walked over to where they were sitting.

"Where's Lacey? I thought you two were going out to lunch?" Whitney questions with much suspicion.

"We were. But Lacey spilled something on her dress and went to get it off. I was just grabbing us something to take to her since we haven't eaten." Danny lies perfectly, but that isn't good enough for Whitney.

"What did she spill on her dress if you haven't even went anywhere yet?" Whitney asks.

"Just a coffee I had in my car. Somebody came speeding through the garage as I was pulling out and had to slam on my brakes. Listen, does Lacey eat turkey? I don't want to get her something she doesn't eat." Danny says as he throws on the charm hoping that Whitney accepts that and doesn't ask him any more questions.

"Yeah, she likes turkey." Phoebe says.

"Great. Well, I have to run before my lunch break is over. I'll see you pretty girls later." Danny says as he walks off.

Phoebe is grinning at him calling her pretty but Whitney isn't buying it. "Something is up." Whitney says as she sips her drink.

"Up? What do you mean?" Phoebe asks.

"I didn't believe a word he said. Something is up. And I want to know what." Whitney says as she and Phoebe finish their lunch.

* * *

Lacey continued to sit in her office in silence and darkness. She had a lot to think about. _Do I tell Archie? Do I break up with him? Do I just not say anything and pretend it never happened? Do I avoid Danny now? Do I ask to be reassigned? Do I leave Archie and start dating Danny? What do I do?_

It was painfully obvious that she needed to do something because she couldn't continue to go on in that way. She couldn't just keep denying her attraction to Danny. And she couldn't continue to kiss him when she has a boyfriend. It's not fair to any of them. She felt torn. She has never been in this situation before. It was a total catch 22. Somebody was going to lose in this situation. And somebody was going to win. Lacey agonized over who would win in this situation. _Am I really contemplating braking up with Archie? Is my attraction to Danny stronger than the relationship I have with Archie? Would I be a fool to leave Archie for Danny? How do I even know Danny wants to be in a relationship with me? _

_What do I do?_

Lacey wanted someone to tell her what she needed to do. She felt like an idiot and a fool for even feeling this way. A sensible woman would admit her mistake, put her foot down with Danny, and then move on. And Lacey always thought she was a pretty sensible woman. She had a good head on her shoulders. She was extremely gifted and talented and intelligent. She has to be. She has her MBA. But right now she felt like a foolish, confused, and stupid teenager. She's actually sitting at her desk, hiding from the outside world, obsessing over a kiss. _This is silly. It was just a kiss_. There isn't any reason to mess up her entire world over a kiss. Lacey thought that she really had made a mountain out of a molehill. There was no reason for her to feel this way. Archie is great. She had to remember how she really feels about Danny. She had to go back to hating him. That was the best decision for everyone involved. She decided that she would not tell Archie what happened between her and Danny. It was a minor indiscretion. Archie didn't need to know she slipped up and kissed one of her colleagues. Lacey just made sure that it would never, ever happen again. She was curious and got it out of her system. There was no reason to dwell on it any longer. It was settled. She would put it behind her and never speak of or think about it again. No matter how much Danny wanted to talk about it. She would just refuse to discuss it. It seemed like a simple enough feat. She was used to not talking to Danny anyway. Things would just return to the way they were before they were forced to work together. Easy as pie. Lacey was pretty sensible after all. She handled a problem that she was perplexed about. She tackled it head on and came up with the best possible outcome for her. She really couldn't believe that she was so far off the deep end that she was searching somewhere for a sign. A sign to tell her what decision to make. Which way to go. Does she run toward the familiar? Or does she run towards the unknown? It was too late to dwell on that though. Her mind was already made up. There was a knock on her office door. Lacey still felt like hiding though. She still needed time to herself. Hopefully whomever it was would go away. Lacey sat quietly and just waited for the person to go away. She hoped they would think she was still at lunch and just leave. There was another knock.

"Lacey, I know you're in there. It's me. Open the door please."

It was Danny.

Lacey started to cry. And Danny knocked again.

"Lacey, please open the door. It's important. It's about Whitney and Phoebe." Danny says as he knocks again.

Lacey let out a deep sigh and rubbed the tears from her eyes. She reluctantly got up and walked over to her office door to open it. Danny pushed his way in and shut the door. That caused Lacey to kind of stumble backwards at his intrusion.

"Why are you sitting in the dark?" Danny asked as he looked around and turned the light on.

Lacey lets out another sigh. "What did you need to tell me about Whitney and Phoebe?" Lacey asks as she tries to avoid looking directly at him.

Danny finally looks at Lacey and her actions at trying to avoid looking at him. "Have you been crying?" Danny asks in concern.

"No." Lacey lies. "What about Whitney and Phoebe?" Lacey asks as she walks over to sit at her desk.

"Why are you lying to me, Lacey? It's obvious you were crying." Danny says as he walks over to her.

Lacey sighs again. "Yes, I was crying and no, I don't want to talk about it. Please just accept that. Now, please just tell me about Whitney and Phoebe so that you can leave. I need to be alone." Lacey says.

Danny decides to avoid asking her about the reason she was crying. "I ran into them when I came back in and they asked me where you were. I lied and said you spilled coffee on your dress. I don't think Whitney believed me though. So I think you're either going to have to tell her the truth or actually spill coffee on your dress to ward her off." Danny says.

"Damn. Why couldn't she just mind her business? And you want me to ruin my dress to satisfy Whitney? Lacey asks.

"No, but I'll buy you another dress. Are you willing to tell Whitney the truth?" Danny asks as he sits on the corner of her desk.

Lacey looks up at him. "I don't need you to buy me another dress, Danny. Dry cleaning should take care of it." Lacey says as she spills her now cold coffee on her dress. "So, to answer your question. No, I'm not willing to tell Whitney the truth. She's already thinking that something is going on between us anyway and I really don't want to give her more ammunition." Lacey says as she gets tissues from the box on her desk to dab at the coffee on her dress.

Danny laughs at Lacey's antics. He never would have thought that cold, frigid Lacey Porter was that down to earth. "Is there something going on between us?" Danny asks.

"I can't talk about that right now, Danny." Lacey says honestly.

Danny weighs his options. "Ok, I'll accept that. For now. Oh, I almost forgot. I bought you a sandwich since we never made it to lunch." Danny says.

"Lunch. Yeah." Lacey says as she scoffs.

"What does that mean, Lacey?" Danny asks in wonderment.

"You had no intention of us going to lunch, did you? You just used that as an excuse to get me to leave with you. You probably had it all set up to take me back to your place." Lacey says in an accusing tone.

"If you really believe that, then what does that say about you, Ms. Porter?" Danny asks in the same accusing tone.

"Excuse me? What do you mean?" Lacey asks as she almost cuts her eyes at him.

"If you really thought that we weren't going to lunch, why did you leave with me then? If that's the case, you wanted to come back to my place." Danny says as he stares at her intently.

Lacey gets an astonished look on her face. "Get out of my office, Danny." Lacey says.

"Why? Now you want me to leave because you don't want to face the truth?" Danny asks.

"What truth do you want me to face, Danny? Why do you keep riding me about this?" Lacey asks in a smart tone.

"Oh, I haven't rode you yet." Danny says in his own smart tone.

Lacey's eyes almost bug out and her mouth hangs open for a while before she speaks. She just gets up and walks over to her office door and opens it. "Leave." Lacey says as she just holds the door open. Danny leaves without a word, but the look on his face when he walks past her riles Lacey up. She almost slams her office door. "Asshole." Lacey says out loud as she walks back over to her desk.

Minutes later and right on time, Whitney and Phoebe arrive. They knock and come in slowly expecting to find Danny in there with her. "We heard you spilled coffee on your dress and couldn't go to lunch." Whitney says in a mocking tone.

"I did. I hope it isn't ruined." Lacey says as she stands to show them. She's glad that she actually did spill coffee on her dress as a precaution because she loved the look Whitney got on her face.

"So you really do have a stain on your dress. I so thought Danny was lying." Whitney says.

"Are you going to walk around the rest of the day with your dress stained like that?" Phoebe asks while she scrunched up her face.

"I kind of have to. That's what I get for wearing white." Lacey jokes as she reaches into her drawer and looks for the scarf she knows she has in there somewhere. She finally finds it and stands to tie it around her waist to make it look like a belt, hiding the coffee stain. "How's that?" Lacey asks Phoebe and Whitney.

"Great, actually. I can't even tell there's a stain on your dress." Phoebe says as she smiles.

"Thanks. Well, I'm heading back to Danny's office to finish going over reports. I'm almost ready to scream there's so many." Lacey says as she grabs what she needs and walks towards her office door with both of her friends following her.

"How is it going so far?" Whitney asks.

"Good. We still have a lot to go over before we put our final report together before we leave. But I know that we'll get it finished. At first it seemed daunting, now going through all of those papers seems a lot easier." Lacey says.

"Leave? Where are you going?" Phoebe asks.

"We have to leave to go their headquarters in Minnesota and West Virginia next week." Lacey replies.

"Wow. I didn't know you two had to leave and go to two different states." Phoebe adds.

"Two business trips? That should be interesting. How long will you be gone?" Whitney asks.

"A week." Lacey responds though she really didn't want to. She knows what Whitney is thinking because she thought it too.

"A week out of town in hotels with Danny. I can't wait to hear the stories when you guys get back." Whitney says and really expresses how amused she is.

"You're just trying to make me hate you, aren't you?" Lacey asks.

"Nope. See ya later" Whitney says as she laughs and pulls Phoebe with her as they walk away.

Lacey heads to Danny's office and finds him on the phone when she knocked on his door. He waved her in and Lacey immediately got to work. She tried not to listen in on his conversation.

"I'll try, but I can't promise anything. I'm working on a huge project and I have to go out of town next week. I will try to see your pretty face this weekend. Ok, bye. I love you too." Danny says as he hangs up and looks over at Lacey who seems to be avoiding him again. "That was my mother, in case you were wondering." Danny says as he smiles at her.

"I wasn't." Lacey lies. She felt a little jealous at him calling someone pretty and telling her he'd try to see her the weekend. She didn't like hearing him say, 'I love you' either, though she won't ever admit it. "But thank you." Lacey says.

"I see you got creative in hiding the stain on your dress. Now, are you going to tell me why you were crying?" Danny asks.

"I had to. I don't want to discuss that Danny. It's over. It happened. Let's move forward and finish what we need to do before we have to pull all-nighters or work the weekend." Lacey says as she returns to her work.

"Ok, you're right. I won't force you to discuss something you don't want to." Danny says sincerely as he returns to his work and he and Lacey work in a lust filled, awkward silence the rest of the day.

One step forward, two steps back.

* * *

Lacey arrived home that evening and was glad that Archie wasn't there. She couldn't face him. She was ridiculously hungry and went straight to her kitchen. She warmed up her leftover baked chicken, rice and string beans. That would be her early dinner. She sat at her table and ate in her own silence alone with her thoughts. She went upstairs to her room and took off her coffee laden dress and headed for her shower. She made the water as hot as she could stand it. She again started to think of Danny and wished his hands were her hands. Lacey started to sob. She couldn't handle her emotions at the moment. But she decided to suck it up and let it go. It wasn't worth crying over. She finished her shower and retreated to her bedroom. She just sat on her bed and let her mind get lost in watching tv. She watched _Step Brothers_ and got completely lost in it from laughing so much. Archie came in and ruined it for her. She did not want him there. She couldn't face him. But she put her poker face on and pretended to be happy to see him as they watched the rest of the movie and more tv together. Later on that night, Archie was in the mood to fool around. Lacey again preferred to have sex from behind, but Archie was in a real lovey dovey mood. He wanted to get the most out of their sexual activity because he was leaving and wouldn't see her for a while. And during their sexual activity, Lacey made a terrible mistake.

She called out Danny's name.


	7. Chapter 7

Lacey immediately realized her mistake but the damage was done. Archie immediately climbed from on top of her and jumped up and turned the light on. Lacey and Archie both had the same horrified expression on their faces.

"Who in the hell is Danny?" Archie asked harshly.

Lacey avoided his question and his gaze that seemed to bore into her. She turned her body and went to cover herself with the sheets. Even though she had been with Archie for over a year, she felt vulnerable and exposed and completely out of place just lying there without any clothes on.

"I asked you a question, Lacey. Who in the hell is Danny?" Archie asks again in the same harsh tone as before.

"He's nobody, Archie. I'm sorry." Lacey says and she truly is.

"Nobody? He's nobody? Then why are you calling out his name while you're having sex with me?" Archie asks roughly.

"It was just a mistake. He's just a guy a work with. I didn't mean to do that and I'm really sorry for it." Lacey says as she tries to plead with Archie and apologize to him.

"Are you screwing him?" Archie asks in a really nasty tone.

"No! I haven't slept with him. I wouldn't do that to you." Lacey says and two weeks ago it would have been the absolute truth. Now she's not so sure. Her feelings for Danny have changed dramatically.

"But you want to." Archie says.

"No. I don't know. I'm sorry." Lacey says and wants to kick herself for letting that slip.

"Is this that guy you're working with now? The one you claim doesn't hit on you? The one you had all those headaches over?" Archie asks.

"Yes." Lacey answers honestly as she lets out a defeated sigh.

Archie starts putting his clothes on. "I knew something was up. You were acting distant yesterday and today, and now I know why." Archie says almost in disgust.

"Where are you going?" Lacey asks quizzically.

"I'm outta here. What did you expect, Lacey? You can't really expect me to stay here after that." Archie says as he puts the rest of his clothes on.

"I expected you to let me explain and apologize. I'm really sorry that I did that and I really didn't mean to." Lacey says softly.

"Save it, Lacey. I get it. I'm already way ahead of you anyway." Archie says in a taunting manner.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Lacey asks.

"It means whatever you want it to mean. I know you're lying about sleeping with that dude, whoever he is. You wouldn't just call his name out like that while you're with me if you didn't. And here I was feeling bad about what I did. But now, we're even." Archie says as he puts his shoes on.

Lacey is hurt and confused by his statement. "What are you talking about, Archie? What did you do that you need to feel bad for?" Lacey asks.

Archie looks at her with fury in his eyes. The blue in his eyes seemed darker and Lacey didn't like what she saw. "What do you think I mean, Lacey?" Archie asks woefully.

"Are you saying that you cheated on me?" Lacey asks as she looks at him with sad and hurt eyes.

"Yeah, that's what I'm saying. I slipped up and slept with someone else. I really felt bad about it too. I probably wouldn't have if I had known that you were doing the same thing. So, we both hurt each other and we're even." Archie says dourly.

"That's where you're wrong, Archie. I didn't cheat on you. I only kissed someone else. You actually slept with another woman. I can't believe you would do that to me." Lacey says as she wipes a tear from her eye.

"I didn't mean to. It just happened. Yeah, I felt guilty. But I never thought about her while I'm with you." Archie says solemnly.

"Right. It just happened. How do you just happen to sleep with someone else?" Lacey asks.

"The same way you kissed someone and then called his name out during sex with me." Archie says smartly.

"I didn't have sex with him though. It was only a kiss. Kisses can happen anywhere. You have to have privacy and opportunity to have sex with someone." Lacey says.

"It just happened. I didn't plan it. They same way you claim you didn't plan to belittle me and chop my balls off by calling me another man's name." Archie replies.

"You need to leave." Lacey says as she wipes another tear from her cheek.

"Fine. I was leaving anyway." Archie says as he goes to leave her bedroom.

"You have a lot of nerve to be this angry when you did what you did." Lacey counters as she looks at the man she realizes she didn't know at all. Leave your key." Lacey says angrily.

Once he takes his key from his key chain and Lacey hears his car in her driveway, she gets up to lock her front door and heads straight for her shower. She doesn't want the scent of Archie's stink on her. She couldn't believe that he cheated on her. She had no idea he slept with someone else and that made her sad, and it scared her. She hoped he used protection. Although they always did, you could never be too sure. Lacey again started to cry while she was in the shower. She was hurt and devastated. And angry. She was just thinking earlier how she would feel if Archie actually cheated on her. Now she felt a thousand times worse. She felt really bad about kissing Danny. She felt extremely bad for saying his name during sex. She had no idea she would ever do a thing like that. She knew that that hurt Archie, but she was hurting too. Hurting more than she could ever dream of. As far as she knew, she had never been cheated on. She didn't like the way it felt. It made her feel inadequate. Like she was lacking in some way. Then she had to think of how Archie felt. She was sure he probably felt inadequate too. She just called out another man's name during sex. That could not have felt good. Just like her finding out he slept with someone else didn't feel good. At all. She started to cry more because she was hurt and their relationship was done.

Lacey needed to think of a way to make herself feel better because right now, she felt awful. Just awful. Awful for how she made Archie feel and awful for how he made her feel. All she did was kiss Danny. Some people would not think that was cheating, but others would. Lacey now knew that if she found out Archie just kissed someone, she would not be as hurt as she is now after discovering that he actually had sex with someone. He actually put a part of his body into a part of another woman's body. Of course neither of them were virgins when they met, and she isn't at all hung up on him being with someone else, the fact that he did that while in a relationship with her was making her feel like crap. Maybe it was a blessing in disguise. Maybe she needed to call out another man's name to find out that he had cheated on her. It scared Lacey to think she may have never found out about Archie's indiscretion. She would have continued to think that their relationship was ok. Not anywhere near perfect, but ok. She wasn't hopelessly in love, but she did love him. She didn't know if he would someday become her husband. She felt like she should be thinking of that considering she's 26 and not getting any younger. Her mother was already asking when she's going to settle down and get married. Her mother was already married and had her and her younger sister Clara was on the way when she was her age. Now Lacey had to start from square one. Now that her relationship was over, her chances of getting married anytime soon were at about zero.

Now Lacey had to agonize over when it happened. How long ago had it happened? Did he come home to her after he slept with someone else? How did he feel about this other woman? And then Lacey started to decide and came to the conclusion that it didn't matter. What's done is done. Now, she has to think about how her relationship with Danny will change. She had already resigned to going back to treating him like she hated him. And in some weird, strange way, she still did. Had he not been on her mind, and had she not want him so bad, she never would have called his name out like that. But Lacey knew that she couldn't blame that on Danny. It's not his fault that he invaded her mind and her thoughts and she ended up doing the unthinkable.

Lacey tried to think of which one was worse. She had to so she couldn't feel like she's totally biased in the situation and completely let her self off the hook. What she did was bad. Kissing another man was bad when you have a boyfriend. Calling that man's name out during sex with you boyfriend is worse. But Archie sleeping with another woman while she's his girlfriend is far worse than both of the things she did combined. Lacey was hurt. There is no denying that. But she would get over it and move on.

Lacey sucked it up and swallowed her remaining tears while she finished her shower. She got out and dried herself off before returning to her room to put on a nightgown. She then tore her sheets off her bed. She didn't want to sleep in any remnants of Archie. It was late and she had to get up in the morning but she didn't care. She needed to change her sheets. She wanted to burn them. God, she prayed he didn't sleep with that other woman in her bed. She prayed Archie had more respect for her than that to violate her in that way. That was the ultimate betrayal. Also sleeping with your relative or friend. Unforgivable in Lacey's book. Lacey didn't even know if she would have forgiven Archie for cheating on her. Her subconscious pretty much made the decision for her. It was over.

Lacey balled up her sheets and put them in her hamper before she walked to her linen closet to get fresh ones. She made her bed and climbed in and prayed that she would get some sleep. She didn't want to spend the rest of the night crying about Arche and the mistakes they both made to hurt each other.

* * *

Danny arrived to his place the same way he felt the day before. He again had Lacey Porter on his mind and it was starting to aggravate and frustrate him. He wanted her. Bad. And he had to have her. He had to get her out of his system. He was at the brink. Danny had never had a woman work him up this much. Maybe because he was used to just saying how he felt and asking for what he wants and getting it. No other woman had ever put up this much of a fight. It intrigued and annoyed him to no end. He just wanted her to stop putting him off and pushing him away so that he could do all the things he desired to do to and with her. And then he just wanted to get to know her better. He wanted to wine and dine her. Take her out on a date. Spend time with her that didn't involve work or sex. He hated to admit it. No, hated is the wrong word. He never thought he's admit it but he really likes Lacey. A lot. He never really hated her, but he definitely wasn't fond of her either.

Oh, how the tables had turned. He felt like a teenager with a crush. He remembered having a crush on a girl in high school that reminded him a lot of Lacey. She wasn't as pretty as Lacey though. Lacey was actually the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. And Danny has had and seen some beautiful women in his lifetime. He wanted to do everything with Lacey. From a walk in the park, to a movie, to them cooking together and ultimately sharing his bed and body with her. Danny knew that he didn't just want sex from Lacey. He could get that anywhere. It wasn't at all hard to find. All he had to do was make a phone call.

Danny was starting to get that feeling again. He didn't want to use Deirdre again, but he felt like he had no choice. She would have to do until he got Lacey for real. He picked up his phone as he walked towards his bedroom. She again answered after 3 rings.

"Hello." She answered in either a breathless or annoyed tone.

Danny cut right to the chase again. "I need to see you again." Danny says.

"Nope. Not happening Danny." She says.

"Why?" Danny questions.

"Because that little game we played was too much for me." Deirdre retorts.

"What do you mean, Deirdre? We've played games before. We have an arrangement. What's the problem now?" Danny asks in his charming tone.

"I wasn't pretending to be the woman you clearly love back then." She answers.

"So, what's the problem? I would do the same for you." Danny answers, though he's not really sure he's willing to pretend to be another guy for someone else to get their rocks off. He might have too much pride for that.

"Because I know that I'm just a substitute for Lacey and I will never fill her shoes. Why don't you just call her instead?" Deirdre asks in concern for her friend.

"It's complicated." Danny admits honestly.

"You love her, don't you?" She asks though she already knows the answer judging by how he acted the night before.

"No, not yet. But I want to." Danny confesses.

"Well, Danny. I never thought it would happen. A woman has you whipped. And while I enjoy our relationship, I think you need to go and be with Lacey. Show and tell her how you feel." Deirdre says.

"I want to apologize for asking you to do that." Danny says in a low voice. His charm and charisma is gone.

"It was actually fun until I figured out what was really going on. Then it became not fun and too much. I knew that you forgot I was there." Deirdre says softly.

"I'm sorry. I hope I didn't ruin our friendship." Danny says truthfully.

"It's ok and of course not. Just call Lacey next time, instead of me because that's who you really want. We can do dinner sometime soon. Your treat." Deirdre says in a playful tone.

Danny smiles at that. "Of course." Danny says then he hangs up. He's still quite wired and antsy. He wishes he had Lacey's number. Then he thought that he wouldn't be able to call her anyway since she has a boyfriend. Danny undresses and heads for his shower. He'll just order takeout and watch a game.

After he takes his shower and pretends Lacey is in there with him.

* * *

The next morning Lacey awoke feeling a little down. Surprisingly, she got a good nights sleep. She fully expected to toss and turn the whole night like she did a few nights ago. Her body and mind must have known just how tired she really was and did her a solid by letting her sleep. She was not in the mood for work or to face the outside world. But she had to. She couldn't just sit holed up in her bed feeling miserable. She was hurt and almost devastated, but that's no reason for her to crawl into a ball and die. She would put on her game face and keep it moving. She was strong. Nobody knew her pain anyway so it was an easy thing to do.

She went to her closet and found her attire for that day. She dressed in a cobalt blue Valentina Sweetheart Pencil dress with a black belt and cobalt blue pumps that had a black lace overlay. She removed her hair from the ponytail and straightened it with her flatiron. She applied mascara and eyeliner to brighten her eyes because she felt they looked a little sad. She didn't want anyone asking her if she was ok. Not really, but she would be in time.

Lacey drove to work and actually put on Nicki Minaj to help herself feel better. The amount of trash Nicki talked would help her out. She didn't want to listen to any love or any sad post breakup songs. She blasted Nicki and headed for work. She stopped to get her a coffee and wished she could throw some liquor into it. Lacey wasn't really a drinker, but she needed it to mellow out. Just a little something to take the edge off.

She headed for the elevator and ran into Danny.

_Great. _Lacey thought. Just the person she's dying to see. He presses the button and they both hop on and he presses their mutual floor.

"Good morning, Lacey. You look beautiful." Danny says sincerely.

"Good morning, Danny. Thank you." Lacey says. They share an almost comfortable silence until Lacey speaks. "Do you mind if I come straight to your office with you? I don't feel like dealing with Whitney yet." Lacey asks and hopes he says yes.

"Of course. Is she still hounding you?" Danny asks in concern.

"Yes. And I don't have time for her foolishness." Lacey says flippantly.

"That means you don't have time for my foolishness either then." Danny says as he flashes her a huge grin.

Lacey smiles back at him. "Hey, you said it, not me." Lacey says as she already starts to feel a little better. They arrive to their floor and head for Danny's office. Lacey immediately gets to work while Danny fiddles around for a moment. He was watching her while he milled about around her. She again looked stunning in that blue dress she was wearing. After grabbing his pile of reports to go through, he finally has a seat at his desk.

Lacey pretended not to notice his intoxicating scent. She really forced herself to focus on her papers as he rolled his sleeves. It was something he always he did, but it didn't make things easier. Lacey really liked his arms and wondered what he looked like without his shirt on. And his pants. All of his clothes really. She removed that image from her mind and starts to focus on other things she shouldn't think about.

Lacey gets lost in her thoughts again thinking about Archie. So much so that it caused Danny to notice.

"Are you ok? You seem different." Danny says.

Lacey exhales a little louder than she intended. "No, I'm not ok." Lacey confesses.

"Why? What's wrong?" Danny asks.

"My boyfriend and I broke up." Lacey says in a pained voice.

Danny tries but fails miserably to try and not show his happiness at Lacey being single. "I'm sorry to hear that." Danny lies, and smirks. He didn't mean to, it just came naturally.

Lacey takes in Danny's response to her confession. She knows he's not sorry at all. "No you're not. Judging by your reaction, you're thrilled to hear that we broke up." Lacey says as she gives him a deadpan expression.

"You're right. I'm not sorry. His loss is my gain." Danny says honestly as he stares at her longingly.

"I'm glad that you're happy about my pain. Thanks." Lacey says sarcastically.

"Look Lacey, I'm sorry you're hurting, but I'm not sorry that you're single now." Danny admits honestly.

"Just because I'm single now doesn't mean that I'm suddenly yours, Danny. I need time to get over my broken heart." Lacey replies.

"Why are you heartbroken?" Danny asks in concern.

Lacey sighs and turns her head to stare off to the side. It almost hurts too much to say it out loud. She just sighs again and tries to hold her tears in. She looks back at Danny and gives him an expression that hurts him to see. "I found out he cheated on me." Lacey says as she gives him a doleful expression.

Danny cringed at Lacey's answer. _What idiot cheated on Lacey? Why would he cheat on her? _"Well, you're better off without him Lacey. Any idiot stupid enough to cheat on you doesn't deserve you. I would never cheat on you if you were with me." Danny says truthfully.

"Thanks, Danny. But you don't even know me that well. He obviously had a reason to do that." Lacey replies.

"Don't start thinking that something is wrong with you because he's a prick. I'm a guy. I know. We're dicks sometimes. Sometimes we mess up good things for stupid reasons. You shouldn't feel like it's your fault. You're perfect." Danny says.

Lacey smiles despite herself. "I'm not perfect, but thank you." Lacey counters as she gives him another smile.

"I just got an idea. How about I take you out tonight to cheer you up?" Danny asks.

"As long as you know that this isn't a date and you're just cheering me up." Lacey says.

"Absolutely. I'll be a boy scout." Danny says as he flashes her that smirk of his.

"I hope you mean that." Lacey says as she eyes him carefully.

"Of course I mean it." Danny lies.

"I'm not sleeping with you." Lacey says seemingly out of nowhere.

"Duly noted." Danny says.

_She doesn't stand a chance. _Danny thought as he smiled again.


	8. Chapter 8

Danny and Lacey had a pretty good first half of their day. Lacey still drifted off into thinking about Archie sometimes, but Danny always reeled her back in. He didn't let her stay silent for too long. Lacey appreciated what he tried to do for her. She finally found out that without a doubt, she was wrong about Danny. Sure he was still a cocky bastard, and his asshole tendencies made her want to scream, but he pretty much was a good guy. She attributed his forward way of thinking to his looks. The man was absolutely gorgeous. Lacey could stare at him for hours. If she really allowed herself to look at him. She had to force herself not to. He turned her on too much. She would never tell him that though. He's probably just waiting for her to crack. Lacey wondered what he had in store for her when he said he wanted to cheer her up. She made it perfectly clear that she wasn't going to sleep with him. In theory and in her mind she wasn't going to and it was totally out of the question. She didn't trust her heart at the moment so she wasn't listening to anything that it had to say. Her body was completely on board with sleeping with him.

Lacey was pretty glad when lunchtime finally rolled around. She started thinking that she really should start eating breakfast along with her coffee. Waiting half of the day to eat was starting to wear on her.

"Do you have anything in mind for lunch?" Danny asked as he stood up and stretched.

Lacey subtly watched his muscles move under his shirt. "Actually, I do. I was thinking that I wanted something from Chipotle. Is that ok with you, or would you like something else? We don't have to eat together if you don't want to." Lacey says as she gives him a slight smile.

"No, Chipotle is fine with me. Are you eating with Phoebe and Whitney or are you still avoiding her?" Danny asks

"I guess we can eat with them. I just didn't need her in my face this morning. Don't say anything about it around her, please." Lacey replies.

"I won't." Danny says as they head out of his office.

"I have to stop past my office. How about you see what Cole is up to so that you don't have to eat with three women?" Lacey suggests.

"That's a good idea. I'll stop past his office and meet you all at the elevators in 10. Does that sound doable?" Danny asks.

"Yup. See you in 10." Lacey says as she smiles and walks away. She heads straight for the ladies room and then made her way to Phoebe's office since it was closest to her. Lacey knocked and poked her head in. "Hey, Ms. Daly. How's it going?" Lacey asks as she smiles at her good friend.

Phoebe looks up and smiles. "Hey there Lacey. I'm doing good. I thought I would have to eat lunch by myself today since I didn't see you and Whitney isn't here." Phoebe says as she stands.

"Whitney isn't here today? Is she sick?" Lacey asks in concern. Lacey instantly felt a little guilty for trying to avoid her when she might be home sick in bed.

"I'm not sure. I haven't talked to her. I hope she's ok." Phoebe says.

"Yeah, me too. Do you want to join me, Danny, and Cole for lunch? Danny and I were thinking of Chipotle." Lacey says.

"Oooh. Lunch with Cole. I'm in. I could stare at that gorgeous man all day." Phoebe says as she grins.

"He is pretty gorgeous. Want me to find out if he's single?" Lacey asks as she locks arms with Phoebe and they walk to the elevator.

"Yes. But don't make it too obvious that I want to know." Phoebe says.

"I won't." Lacey says as they both giggle and don't stop when they see Cole and Danny standing at the elevator waiting for them.

Danny can't help but smile when he sees Lacey. He's happy to see that she's laughing and seems happy with her friend and has forgotten about her boyfriend cheating on her. Danny still wondered what kind of idiot would cheat on her. Lacey was gorgeous. Beautiful inside and out. Danny still thought that this fool making that huge mistake works well in his favor. "You two aren't laughing at us, are you?" Danny asks casually.

"Of course not." Lacey says with her smile never leaving her face. "Just girl talk."

"Good. Ready for lunch then?" Danny says.

"Absolutely. Why wouldn't we be?" Lacey asks as they step on to the elevator. Danny and Lacey have their playful exchange and have all but forgotten about Cole and Phoebe.

"Phoebe, do you get the feeling that we're intruding on their date?" Cole asks Phoebe and she grins.

"I was just thinking the same thing." Phoebe says.

"We're sorry guys." Danny says.

"So I guess it's safe to assume that you two don't hate each other anymore." Phoebe says.

Danny and Lacey look at each other and smile. Lacey hunches her shoulders. "I guess you can say that." Lacey says and gives Danny a playful wink that causes his penis to twitch. "So, Cole. Do you have a girlfriend? I don't see a ring." Lacey says and Phoebe looks at her with wide eyes.

"Nope. I'm between girlfriends right now." Cole says.

"Great." Lacey says and leaves it at that. Phoebe still looks like a deer caught in headlights. The four adults head to the eatery and have their lunch that pretty much turned out to be a double lunch date. Phoebe and Cole spent their time chatting and Danny and Lacey practically undressed each other with their eyes the entire time. Lacey started to really look forward to their non date that night.

* * *

Danny and Lacey finished out the rest of their work day. They knew they both had their outing hanging over their heads. Although it technically wasn't a date, they still were two adults that weren't just friends, going out for the evening. Lacey was still sticking to her guns about not sleeping with Danny. She was just with Archie and she wouldn't do that no matter how bad she wanted to. That is completely where she drew the line. She would have to give it some time. She wasn't thinking of jumping into a relationship either. She needed time to recover from that as well. Archie really threw her for a loop with his confession. Lacey came to the realization that the fates had somehow worked with her to get her to call out Danny's name during sex with Archie. She knows for certain that he never would have confessed and told her that he slept with someone else. He would have continued to portray the doting boyfriend that treated her good and made her happy when he wasn't out of town on business. Lacey still wondered how long ago it happened. How long had he smiled in her face knowing he cheated on her? How many times after it happened had he slept with her? Did her sleep with that other woman immediately after or before he slept with her? Those question had the potential to drive Lacey crazy. She decided she was better off not knowing because it would only make her feel worse, not better. There's really nothing Archie could say to make her feel better. Knowing that he cheated on her was pain enough. She knew that she would eventually get over it, but right now it stung. Danny made it sting a little less. He had already made her feel a little better by not allowing her to wallow in her pain of thinking about Archie and his indiscretions.

"So, are we still on for tonight?" Danny asked as they were gathering their things to head out that evening.

"Yes." Lacey says as she looks over at him. "Why? You haven't changed your mind have you?" Lacey asks almost skeptically.

"No, I haven't changed my mind. I was just making sure you didn't." Danny says as they head out of his office.

"So, how do we do this, Danny? Do I meet you there, or what?" Lacey asks quizzically.

Danny hands Lacey his phone. "Call your phone from mine. I'll text you where to meet me in an hour." Danny says as Lacey dials her number.

"So, what should I wear?" Lacey asks as they step on the elevator.

"Anything you want to wear is fine. I think you should dress comfortably though." Danny suggests.

"Ok." Lacey says and she smiles and gets a little excited. They ride the elevator down to the main lobby in a comfortable silence. When they arrive to the first floor, they head out of the building and head to the garage.

"I'll see you soon, Ms. Porter." Danny says as he winks and walks away.

Lacey blushed and giggled like a schoolgirl as she headed to her car. She got in and thinks of how she felt when she got into her car that morning. Huge difference. Danny actually made her day much better. Lacey smiled thinking that Danny was really starting to grow on her. She now thought that them being put together on that assignment was a good idea.

Lacey put on Beyoncé this time when she drove home. She arrived there in about 20 minutes and headed for her kitchen to get a trash bag. She started to walk around her house and threw in everything that belonged to Archie. She didn't want his stuff in her house. His stuff had accumulated after a year and a half of dating even though he didn't stay there that often.

She went from room to room. The majority of his things were in her bedroom. She wanted to be petty and throw in the things that he gave her, but she decided to be more of an adult than that about these latest events. She just took everything that he brought her and threw it in the trash. It wasn't much. Just a few things like a teddy bear for Valentine's Day, a bracelet for her birthday and a pair of earrings for Christmas. He gave her more things that she couldn't keep as souvenirs like dinners, shows, and outings. He also brought her a few more items that weren't significant that she just threw in the trash can like they were nothing. They no longer meant anything to her. She obviously didn't mean anything to him, so keeping the things he brought her weren't worth keeping. He threw their relationship away, so throwing those things away seemed like the right thing to do. Once she was finished, she undressed and went into her bathroom to shower for her outing with Danny. Once she was in there, she threw Archie's toothbrush right in the trash.

Lacey then showered and dressed in just jeans, a white tee, and black leather boots. She put her hair into a ponytail on the top of her head and let the back hang down. She finished it with a black leather jacket. She was desperately trying to dress down and still ended up looking stunning. She really didn't have to try hard to be a knockout. It came naturally. Lacey's beauty was the envy of lots of women. She's one of those women that are so pretty that you want to hate them, but you can't. She had an equally amazing body and an amazing personality. A woman who seems too good to be true. Most people instantly assumed that she was stuck up and conceited, but that was far from the truth. She was the exact opposite.

Lacey checked her phone and saw that Danny had texted her an address 10 minutes earlier. She texted him back and told him she would see him soon. Lacey grabbed the trash bag of Archie's things and took it with her. She got into her car and again played Beyoncé. Lacey loved that chick more than she could explain. Lacey put on '_Single Ladies' _and danced and sang along in her car. Before she headed to wherever she was meeting Danny, she stopped pst Archie's and put the trash bag on his doorstep. Lacey happily got into her car and drove off. _Good riddance! _Lacey thought as she continued to drive. Lacey really had no idea where she was going because she didn't recognize the address. She had to get GPS directions so that she wouldn't get lost. She pulled up in front of a building that looked like something out of Architectural Digest. Lacey wondered what this building could be. She pulled up into the parking spot that was right next to a black Porsche. Danny's black Porsche.

"Dammit." Lacey said out loud as she turned her car off. It was clear what this place was. Danny had tricked her into coming over his house. "Well played, Danny. You prick." Lacey again said out loud to herself. She exhaled sharply as she got out of her car. She walked up to the front of the building and she had to be buzzed in. She saw that Danny lived in B so she pressed that. All she got was the buzzing of the door. She walked in and it seemed so deserted although the building was immaculate. She got on the elevator and pressed B. She was a little stunned when the elevator door opened right up to his living room. His place was a huge loft/condo space. She reluctantly stepped in and heard the sound of smooth jazz playing and the sound of her heels clicking on the floor. The floors were white marble with hints of black and gray. He had charcoal gray furniture. Lacey looked over and saw that the fireplace was going. She saw stairs that looked like they led to a tv area.

Lacey continued to look around Danny's place and she had to admit that she was impressed. He either had really good taste or a really good interior decorator. Maybe even both. His place looked like something straight out of a magazine or the after picture of a home remodeling show. She really liked his place. She was still looking around when Danny walked out and he took in Lacey's appearance.

"Welcome, Lacey. You look incredible. I'm glad you made it here safely. Make yourself at home." Danny says as he smiles.

"Thank you. And I'm a little mad at you for tricking me into getting into your house. Good one, Danny. Well played." Lacey says as she smiles and takes in Danny's appearance as well. He has on a white Henley and blue jeans. His sleeves are rolled up and his hair is out. He has his hair out. Lacey instantly felt like a fool.

"Oh, come on now. Don't be like that. I know you would have said no if I just invited you to my place." Danny says as he smirks this time.

"You're right. I would have said no. But I'm here now. And I will leave if you don't stick to your promise of being a boy scout." Lacey says as she folds her arms across her chest and matches his facial expression.

"I promise to behave just like a boy scout. Do you want something to drink?" Danny asked.

"Sure. Ice water is fine." Lacey says as she takes off her jacket and sits down on his gray sofa.

"Coming right up." Danny says as he turns and walks back to his gourmet kitchen. Danny came right back out into the living room with her glass and sat down and handed it to her and then sat down next to her.

Lacey took a sip of her ice water and then looked over at Danny. _Damn, he's sexy. _Lacey thought. "So, how are you planning on cheering me up?" Lacey asks.

"Well first, I'm going to cook dinner for you. And then we're having a game tournament. Once you've played games with the best, you'll feel bad about losing to me instead of feeling bad about your breakup and broken heart." Danny says.

Lacey took another sip of her water. "You think you're the best, huh?" Lacey asks and realizes she walked right into one of Danny's cocky answers.

He turned to face her and eyed her dead on. "I'm good at everything that I do." Danny says seriously.

Lacey looked into his eyes and the look on his face. There is no mistaking what he meant. Her lady parts started to tingle. "Can I use your bathroom?" Lacey asks suddenly.

"Sure. It's right there." Danny says as he points to a door right next to the stairs that lead up to the tv area.

Lacey sat her glass on the glass table in front of her. She stood up and almost ran to the bathroom. She stepped inside and was again impressed. The same marble floor was in the bathroom but the counters were a contrasting black marble and dark cabinets. He actually had fancy and elegant hand towels hanging on the silver knobs. There was a huge marble framed mirror. Lacey didn't really need to use the bathroom, she just had to get herself together. She wanted to leave and stay at the same time. She felt like a fool. _Why am I here? I should leave. Should I just leave? Maybe I should say my period started and I have to leave. That should turn him off. _Lacey thought as she stared at her reflection in the mirror. She shook her head and let out a deep breath. She washed her hands just because and left out.

Danny was still sitting in the same spot waiting for her. Lacey nervously walked over and sat next to him. She hated that she had to run to the bathroom like a little girl. He's just a man and she's running away from him. She has been alone with a man before. It shouldn't be that big of a deal. Lacey didn't think she had this much sexual tension and chemistry with someone before. Lacey nervously looked around again and saw that Danny was watching her. She smiled despite being totally uncomfortable. "You have a really nice place, Danny." Lacey says to dredge up a conversation.

"Thanks. Are you nervous?" Danny asks and Lacey can't tell if he's being sincere or mocking her.

Lacey decided to give Danny the benefit of the doubt and assume he's being sincere. "Not at all." Lacey lies.

"Good." Danny says as he stands. He grabs Lacey by her hand and pulls her to her feet. "Come on." Danny says.

"Where are we going Danny?" Lacey asks as she lets him pull her with him.

"To the kitchen." Danny says as he leads her in there and stops at the chairs behind the counter. "Have a seat." Danny says as he walks around and stops and opens the refrigerator. He pulls out several things.

Lacey takes a seat and looks at his kitchen. Again, it looks like something you would see in a magazine. He has black and white granite counters and dark cabinets. He has stainless steel appliances. There was a black, gray, and white back splash that really complimented the rest of the kitchen. "What are you making?' Lacey asks.

"Fettuccine Alfredo with shrimp and a salad. You do eat shrimp, I hope." Danny says as he stops and looks at her.

"Yes. Do you need help?" Lacey asks.

"Nope. I'm doing this for you. You just sit back and look pretty." Danny says as he winks at her.

Lacey blushed and felt warm inside. She still felt like she should grab her jacket and her purse and leave. She was in dangerous territory. She felt conflicted. Lacey was really starting to like Danny more and more. And she's starting to feel like that might be a problem. She doesn't want him to be her rebound after Archie. But she also wants to jump on him. She's ridiculously conflicted.

Lacey just sat there and watched Danny cook. She wondered how he knew that having a man cook for her was on her short list of things she really liked. He seemed to really know what he was doing as he moved around his kitchen effortlessly. Lacey started to get a little lost in thought thinking about things. Danny pulled her from her trance when he called her.

"You're thinking too much again." Danny says as he smiles at her.

"Sorry." Lacey says not bothering to elaborate. She will let him think that she was thinking about Archie when she was really thinking about him.

Danny makes a face and starts pouting. "You're making me feel like I'm not being a good host. I invited you over to make you feel better and to cheer you up." Danny says.

"Danny, you are an excellent host. I do feel better already. I wasn't thinking what you thought I was thinking about." Lacey says.

"So what were you thinking about?" Danny asks casually.

"I can't tell you." Lacey says.

"You were thinking about spending the night, weren't you?" Danny asks as he smirks at her.

"I was not." Lacey answers truthfully and also like she's in shock.

"I was joking, Lacey." Danny says. "Come and taste this."

Lacey gets up from her seat and walks toward Danny. He raised the spoon to her mouth and fed her the sauce. Lacey felt aroused and a little embarrassed at the same time. She started to feel warm again from the look Danny was giving her. He took his thumb and wiped the remaining sauce from her mouth. "It's delicious. Who taught you how to cook?" Lacey asks.

"I took a cooking class. I was trying to meet women, and I ended up learning a few things." Danny says light-heartedly.

"You're kidding." Lacey says as she giggles.

"Nope. I was a lot younger then, though." Danny says as Lacey returns to her seat. Danny finished cooking their meal and they sat down to eat. Lacey really enjoyed the meal that Danny cooked for them. Danny really outdid himself. After they finished eating, Lacey helped him with the kitchen. "Are you ready to get killed in a game of Assassins Creed or Halo? I have lots more. You can pick a game you want to play." Danny says.

"No, that's fine." Lacey says as she follows him up the stairs to the tv area. Danny did in fact put on the games he selected and was surprised that Lacey knew how to handle herself when it came to video games.

"I never would have pegged you as a gamer." Danny said impressively.

"I know you wouldn't. Looks can be deceiving." Lacey says as she smiles at him. She learned a lot about playing video games from playing with Archie, but she doesn't feel the need to bring that up.

They just sat quietly on Danny's sofa after Lacey beat him in Call of Duty. Danny looked over at her and hesitated at first.

"Lacey, I have a confession to make." Danny says quietly.

A lump forms in Lacey's throat. _God, I hope he isn't married. Or really a woman. He does have that hair. Oh God, what is it? _Lacey thinks. She swallows hard. "Ok. What is it?" Lacey asks.

"Lacey, I was never a boy scout." Danny says as he literally attacks her on his sofa.


	9. Chapter 9

**Hello everyone. I apologize for the delay. I went back to work from vacation and my week was hectic. I'd like to say some of you are an absolute mess when it comes to asking for updates and I love it! It pushes me to write. If nobody was asking and eager for updates, I wouldn't have a reason to write. So I Thank You all for that.**

**This update may or may not have sexually explicit content. Read at your own risk. **

**I hope this update was worth the wait. Reviews are hugs! I love them!**

* * *

Danny startled Lacey with his confession and with his nothing less than attack on her when he leaned forward and grabbed her and then laid her down on his sofa before he planted a huge kiss on her. This time they were both able to enjoy the kiss because neither one of them stopped. When they finally came up for air, they just looked at each other briefly before Lacey grabbed his neck and pulled him back in for another kiss. Those two kisses made up for the two that Lacey broke both times. Lacey really settled her body into his sofa and Danny relaxed on top of her. The more they kissed, the more aroused Danny got. Lacey could feel his bulge press against her mound. After what seemed like an eternity, they finally stopped kissing and opened their eyes to stare at each other.

"So, this was your way of cheering me up?" Lacey questions.

"Yes and no. I have more that I want to do to cheer you up." Danny says as he smiles at her while still on top of her.

"I really shouldn't have engaged in your tactics to pull one over on me. You got me here under false pretenses and you said you would behave like a boy scout." Lacey says.

"What can I say? It worked. I'm sorry I was never a boy scout." Danny says in an amused expression. He pulled himself from on top of her into a seated position. He grabbed her foot and unzipped her boot and took it off. He did the same with her other foot as Lacey watched him with a wide-eyed expression on her face. He reached for the button on her jeans and opened them.

"What are you doing?" Lacey asks in a soft tone.

"I'm undressing you." Danny says as he then unzipped her jeans. He smiled and got excited when he saw the black lace panties that he could see through. He really liked what he saw.

Lacey tried to sit up when he went to tug on her jeans. Danny lightly pushed her back down and continued to slowly tug on her jeans. "I'm not sleeping with you, Danny." Lacey says with assurance though she isn't really sure if she means it.

"You don't have to." Danny says as he smirks at her and tugs her jeans down further. They are now at her mid-thigh and Danny has to control himself to not just snatch them off of her.

"I know I don't have to. But why are you still undressing me then?" Lacey asks.

"I'm still undressing you because I want to." Danny says as he slowly pulls her jeans down some more. They are now at her knees. He then startles her by just yanking them from her legs.

"What makes you think I want you to undress me?" Lacey asks.

"Because you haven't told me to stop yet. So I'm assuming you want me to undress you." Danny says as he tugs on her arms to pull her up and then takes her tee-shirt off.

"I said I'm not sleeping with you, Danny." Lacey says again. She hopes she really means it. She was fighting an internal uphill battle with the contradicting thoughts running through her mind. She said she wouldn't sleep with him and she wants to stick with that. She also wants him to hurry up and take off her undergarments and take off his clothes so they can have sex. _Who will win in this battle? My mind or my body? _Lacey thinks to herself.

"I know." Danny says as he leaned forward and kissed her while reaching behind her back to unhook her bra. He did it so swiftly, Lacey didn't realize he had unhooked it and took it off until she felt the cool air touch her breasts.

Lacey's judgement started to get cloudy. She could have just relaxed and went with the flow, because his seduction tactics were working on her. She still felt the need to ask questions and reaffirm her stance on not sleeping with him. She wanted to will him to stop, but she couldn't form the words. Maybe her reluctance would turn him off and he would be the one to stop it because she doesn't think she can. "Then why are you still undressing me?" Lacey asked once she pulled away from the kiss.

"I'm still undressing you because it's part of my plan to cheer you up." Danny says as he smirks at her seductively. "Besides, I've been dying to see you naked for years." Danny says as he starts to kiss her neck. There must have been arrow pointing to her spot because that's where he started to nibble and suck. He then slowly and softly laid her back down on the sofa. He then went for he panties and slowly removed them. She was now completely naked in front of him. He just sat and stared at her in silence for a moment. "You look even better than I imagined." Danny says sincerely.

"Thank you. Now I need to get dressed and leave because I'm totally cheerful now. Mission accomplished." Lacey says as she tries to get up.

"You're very welcome, but Lacey I'm not done yet." Danny says as he lays her back down.

"Danny, you really should be done. I'm as cheerful as can be, thanks to you. Now I feel like this is more tor your benefit than mine. I'm the one that's completely naked. You're getting more out of this than I am." Lacey says as she eyes him suspiciously.

"Are you sure about that, Lacey? I haven't even finished yet." Danny says as he rubs her leg.

"Yes, I'm sure. I'm just laying here in a compromising position and you're getting your jollies from it. If you aren't aware of this, I'm completely naked and exposed to you." Lacey says.

"Do you want me to get naked too? Because I can." Danny says as he smiles at her.

_Yes! _Lacey immediately thinks then she changes her mind before answering. "That would make it fair, but I don't trust that if you take your clothes off, you'll stick to the plan. I told you I'm not seeping with you, so if that's part of your plan to cheer me up, it's not happening." Lacey says. She hopes that if she says it enough, they will both understand that they will not be sleeping together.

Danny smirks and lightly chuckles. "How many times are you going to say that? Who are you trying to convince, me or yourself?" Danny asks.

"As many times as it takes. I'm only trying to convince you because I'm completely sure about not sleeping with you." Lacey lies.

"Ok, Lacey. I believe you. Can I finish now?" Danny asks in a indeterminable tone.

"I guess. I just don't understand why I have to be naked for you to cheer me up." Lacey says.

Danny ignores Lacey's last statement. "We need to move to my bed because I think you'll be more comfortable there." Danny says.

Lacey laughs and shakes her head. "I'm not falling for that trick. I'd rather stay right here." Lacey says.

Danny stands up. "How did I know you were going to say that?" Danny asks as he pulls the sofa from the wall. He pulls up the bottom part of the sofa and the back drops immediately turning the sofa into a bed. Danny enjoyed the expression that came over Lacey's face. He knew she wasn't expecting that at all. He really wanted to give himself a pat on the back for a job well done. He had accomplished the first part of his plan. He sat down on the sofa that was now a bed.

"I see you're playing hard ball. Go ahead and finish with your little plan of cheering me up because I see that you're not going to let me leave unless I do. I have to leave soon so that I-" Lacey rambles on until Danny interrupts her.

"Lacey?" Danny says more as a statement than a question.

"Yes?" Lacey asks.

"Shut up." Danny says and surprises her by grabbing her thighs and opening her legs. Lacey didn't have a chance to protest before he dove his head between her legs. His tongue made immediate contact with her clitoris. She felt him move his tongue around it a bit before he started to suck on it. Lacey had a million thoughts running through her mind at once. _Oh my god! I can't believe he's eating me out. If this was his way of cheering me up then I need to be sad more often. Oh my god! He's extremely good at this. It feels so good. I think I could fall in love. I am in love. I'm in love with his mouth. I hate Danny though. I think I hate Danny. I think I might love Danny now. Wow. Oh my god Danny has his head between my legs. I can't believe he's doing this to me. He's good. He's really good. Archie isn't this good at this. _Lacey didn't mean to start thinking of Archie but she had no choice. He never made her feel like this. He definitely lacked in that area. He was stingy when it came to that, so she was stingy as well. She only went down on him if he went down on her. She didn't want to feel like she should have to ask for that in a relationship. And now here Danny was eating her and she didn't even have to ask. Lacey stopped thinking of Archie and his shortcomings and focused on the matter at hand. He was completely devouring her and she was loving it. She was really loving it. She continued to feel his tongue on her clit and then what must have been his thumb went inside of her and moved it around. He changed his approach and then Lacey felt his tongue slip inside of her. _That's different. Oh my god. It's really different and I like it. I really do. _Lacey thought. He went back to licking and sucking on her clit and digging in her with his thumb until Lacey felt like she couldn't take anymore and tried to back away. She felt like it was too much for her. Danny stopped what he was doing and looked up at her try to scoot away from him. He gave her a smirk she had never seen prior to that before he literally put his arms around her thighs and pulled her into a bear hug by pulling her closer to him. He had a hold on her that she couldn't get out of if she wanted to.

"Danny...Danny...I...it...feels...I...oh my damn...Danny." Lacey manged to get out. She knew she probably didn't make any sense but she couldn't think clearly at a time like this. Danny sucked a little harder on her clit and Lacey lost it. She felt her juices flow and felt like she was flying and in a state of pure bliss.

Danny finally released her from his grasp and rolled over on his back. "I did a pretty good job of cheering you up, don't you think?" Danny says as he puts his hands behind his head.

Lacey really can't function that well at the moment. She still feels like she's on cloud 9. "What?" She asks. She knows she heard him ask her something, she just doesn't really know exactly what he asked.

Danny turns and props himself up on his elbow to watch her. She looks so beautiful to him. It's not even the fact that she's naked, it's that he's really starting to feel things for her. He loved the euphoric look on her face that he put there. He was extremely aroused and wanted to take off his clothes and get inside of her, but he also wanted to respect her wishes and her stance on not sleeping with him. He would accept that for now. He knew it was only a matter of time before they did actually have sex. "I asked if you thought I did a good job at cheering you up."

Lacey moaned a little. "Is that a trick question?" Lacey asked breathlessly.

"No. That was a legit question." Danny replies.

"Then yes, you did an excellent job of cheering me up. Can't you tell?" Lacey asks.

"Yes, I can tell." Danny sits straight up. "Well, my job is done. I think you should get dressed and go home before it's too late. We do have to work tomorrow." Danny says as he looks over at her and smiles. He waits.

Lacey sat up. "Are you seriously kicking me out?" Lacey asks.

Danny smiles at her. "No, I'm not kicking you out. But you said you wanted to leave when you were cheered up. I'm just respecting your wishes." Danny says as he stands. "I have to go to the bathroom, so you can get dressed in private."

_In private? Is he serious? He just had his face buried between my legs but he wants to give me privacy? What the hell? _Lacey just looks at him weirdly for a moment. "Are you serious?" Lacey asks incredulously.

"What's wrong?" Danny asks as he tries to contain his amusement. He has her right where he wants her.

"You really think I need privacy after what just happened?" Lacey asks in a smart tone.

"I guess I just assumed you would want to get dressed in private. I'm trying to be a gentleman, Lacey." Danny says in a sincere tone.

Lacey scoffs at his answer. "I guess you're right. You can leave me alone now." Lacey says.

"You're not upset are you?" Danny asks.

"No, not at all." Lacey lies.

Danny bends down to kiss her on her cheek. "Good. I'll see you downstairs." Danny says before he practically runs down the steps and goes into his bathroom. He again waits.

Lacey let out a sigh of exasperation. She was mad as hell at Danny. She was fuming actually. She just got up off the sofa/bed and dressed in a hurry. Lacey walked down the stairs and went to sit on his sofa. She quickly changed her mind about waiting for him to enter his living room. She put on her jacket, grabbed her purse and left without a word.

Danny came out of his bathroom expecting to find Lacey waiting on him. He felt a sense of dread and disappointment when he realized she was gone. Perhaps kicking her out and acting distant wasn't a good idea. He started to feel sick thinking that he may have went too far with trying to play his game of seduction with Lacey.

* * *

Lacey drove home feeling like an idiot. She fell for Danny's trick and she was mad at herself for letting things go that far. Then she started thinking she shouldn't feel bad at all. He played himself. Yeah he saw her naked, but that's a small thing. She knows her body is amazing and isn't ashamed of it in any aspect. Yeah she let him do something that was extremely intimate to her, but so what. She didn't return the favor. She stuck to her guns about not sleeping with him. However, if she's being totally honest with herself, she knows she would have had he not acted like a dick. So not only did he go down on her he screwed his way out of sleeping with her. So the joke was on him.

She heard her phone ringing and she knew that without a doubt, it was Danny. She could have put her blue tooth in and answered, but she didn't feel like saying anything to him. She let it go to voicemail. If he left a message, she was deleting it without even listening to it. Moments later, she heard her phone chime altering her that she had a text message.

"Fuck you, Danny. And to think I was really about to do just that you asshole." Lacey says out loud. She needs something to help her get her mind off of the shenanigans she was just a part of. No matter how good his mouth felt on her, she was mad enough to spit fire. She turned on Rihanna. Rihanna's level for not giving a fuck exceeded most people's and Lacey admired that. But Lacey wasn't feeling Rihanna. She had to turn on the chick she was feeling and that chick was Nicki Minaj again. She turned on _"Looking Ass" _because she was mad as hell. In less than 24 hours, both Archie and Danny had disgusted and disrespected her to no end. She didn't appreciate that crap at all. She wasn't a damn toy. They both played with her feelings and emotions. Somehow she felt like Danny had done more to manipulate and deceive her. She let her guard down and actually started to like him. What a fool she was. He sucker punched her with his "Let me cheer you up" tactic. And she fell for it. So she shouldn't blame him. She's a grown woman. She knew he would try to pull something slick when she entered his house. Cooking for her and being the perfect gentleman. Damn prick. She was back to square one with Danny. She would pretend that this crap didn't just happen between them. She would go back to hating his guts.

Lacey reaffirmed her stance on hating him repeatedly on her way home. Once she entered her house, she went straight to her bedroom and undressed. She almost ran to her shower. She felt unclean and needed to wash Danny away. She just kept telling herself how glad she was that she didn't sleep with him. She would feel worse. Then she had to go back to thinking that she didn't have anything to feel bad about. She had a moment of weakness and let him do that. It didn't happen as far as Lacey was concerned. But it did happen and it was wonderful and awesome. It made her weak in the knees just thinking about it. She got out of her shower to turn in for the night. She was putting her nightshirt on when her phone rang again. She checked it and sure enough it was Danny. She pressed 'ignore' and turned her phone off. She turned off all her lights and climbed into bed.

"Damn him." Lacey said aloud before she pulled the covers over her head and hoped she would get a good night's sleep.

After she cried.

* * *

Danny felt like a complete fool for toying with Lacey. He was so used to playing games with women that he forgot that that crap doesn't work on all women. Lacey certainly wasn't all women. She was truly special and unique to him. He should have known she wouldn't fall for that cold and distant shit. She left without a word to him. Now she was ignoring his calls. He wished he knew where she lived because he would have went to her house and apologized in person. Danny had to face the fact that he went too far with Lacey. Not with what he did to her, but his actions after. Hell, he'd please Lacey in that way again. That wasn't the issue. He felt like he hurt her and he didn't like how that made him feel. Not that he's the kind of man who loves and gets off on hurting women, he knows that he has toyed and played with a lot of women's emotions and feelings in the past. And not that he's heartless, he just didn't dwell on hurting any of them. Now, he truly felt bad about what he did. He had made a lot of progress with Lacey, and now it all seemed like he hadn't gotten anywhere. He had his work cut out for him. But he would make it up to her. He was willing to put in the work to have Lacey not hate him any more. He would be diligent in doing that when he saw her at work the next day.

* * *

Lacey awoke groggy from a restless night of sleep. She tossed and turned pretty much the whole night. She finally went to sleep right before her alarm went off it seemed. She cursed and got out of bed and headed to her bathroom to begin her normal morning ritual. When she chose her outfit for the day, she wanted to wear all black because of the mood she was in. She then decided on a black pinstripe dress and black pinstripe pumps to match. She hoped it wasn't too much. She of course looked stunning in the figure flattering dress. She felt ugly though. If she was really in her emotions, she would stay the hell home. But that project had to be completed. If it wasn't for that, she would have taken a sick day or two. Then she had to be in the same confines as Danny. After what happened. Great, just great.

_Why didn't you just resist him, you fool? Why did you go to his house? You knew he was up to no good. And you fell for it. Shame on you. _Lacey's internal thoughts seemed to have a critic. She just kept replaying the night before over and over again repeatedly in her mind. Even the good parts. She hated that crap. She wanted to forget and move on. Having him in her face would prove to be a challenge. But they were both professional adults that shouldn't let a stupid decision they both made after work affect their job.

Lacey got in her car and let Jill Scott soothe her as she drove to work. She made a stop at Dunkin' Donuts and got her a breakfast croissant and her coffee. She needed fuel for energy. She had no energy to fake it. She wasn't in the mood for faking it any way. Danny should know how she feels. Hopefully the cocky asshole would leave her the hell alone. She prayed what happened stayed off the table as a topic of discussion. She didn't want to discuss it. She thought about it enough. Damn him.

She parked her car in the garage and almost sprinted to her office. She got there a little later than she normally would so she hoped everyone had gone about their business. She did not want to run into anybody. Especially Danny. She got her wish when she got on the elevator and went to her office. She ate her sandwich and drank her coffee in peace. She was going in to bitch mode for the rest of the project, starting now. She would go back to treating Danny like the man whore he was.

After prolonging it as long as she possibly could, Lacey reluctantly gathered her things and took the long walk to his office. She felt like she was marching to her punishment. Like she was walking the plank or turning herself in to the police for a crime she committed. It seemed unfair.

When Lacey made her way to Danny's office, she overheard Danny talking to Cole as usual. She didn't want to eavesdrop but she had no choice.

"Did you catch the game last night?" Cole asks.

"No. I missed it." Danny says.

"Did you have a hot date or something? You missed an awesome game." Cole replies.

"Not really a date, but something like that." Danny answers.

"Who is she? Just one of your notches?" Cole asks.

"No, not even that. She's no one important. My night was a disaster and I hate to even think about it." Danny says to change the subject.

_No one important. Disaster. Right. _Lacey thinks as she puts on a fake smile and appears in his doorway to knock. "Good morning." Lacey says happily though she feels the exact opposite of jovial.

Danny turned at the sound of her voice. He stared at her longingly, remembering the night before. He was glad she seemed to be in a good mood. "Good morning, Lacey." Danny says as he smiles and stands.

"Good morning." Cole says. He couldn't help but notice that the atmosphere changed when Danny and Lacey looked at each other. He wondered what that was about. "Well, I guess that's my cue to leave. See you guys later." Cole says as he walks past Lacey to leave Danny's office.

Lacey walked over and grabbed files from the box, sat down, and got to work without a word. Danny watched her every move. He seemed to be in a trance or hypnotized by her. He shook the vivid images of her naked body in front of him from his mind. Danny got up and walked over to his office door to shut and lock it. He walked over and grabbed the files he intended to go over and sat down at his desk. He sat and watched Lacey for an unforeseeable amount of time. She seemed to act like he wasn't even in the room.

"Lacey?" Danny says and Lacey doesn't even budge. "Lacey please talk to me. I'm sorry." Danny says as he looks at her with a woeful expression on his face. She still didn't acknowledge him. Danny got up from his seat and walked around his desk over to her. She gave him no reaction. He reached out to touch her and she flinched. He touched her anyway. She just took her hand and removed his hand from her body. Danny sighed in aggravation and frustration. "Lacey, I'm sorry I was an ass, ok? I shouldn't have played with you like that. I really like you, Lacey. Even if you hate me. I only told Cole you weren't important to keep him off my back. You are important. It was only a disaster when you left without saying anything. I'm sorry about last night. I'm sorry if I went too far. I'll do anything to make this right." Danny says sincerely and hopes that is enough to make her stop being mad at him.

Lacey stops what she's doing and just stares at her papers in silence for a moment. She then just looks up and locks eyes with him. "Anything?" Lacey asks as she smiles at him.

Danny smiles down at her. "Yes. Anything." Danny replies.

Danny really didn't have any idea just what 'anything' meant.


	10. Chapter 10

Lacey continued to stare at Danny with several conflicting thoughts running through her head. But she knew she had to stick to her guns or Danny would eat her alive, no pun intended. He had too much game and too many tricks up his sleeve for Lacey to come out on top in all of this. Of course she probably could just get on top of him, but that's neither here nor there. Lacey was not falling in to his trap, no matter how hard he tried. He had already suckered her into going farther than she ever intended to go with him, and it would not happen again. He charmed the pants right off of her. Literally. Her panties too. If she really was as stupid as she was the night before, she would knock all the things off of his desk and go for round two. But she was not going to do that. She was not giving in to Danny Desai ever again.

"So, anything I ask Danny? You will do anything I ask you to do?" Lacey asks quizzically.

"Yes, Lacey. I will do anything that you ask me to do to make up for what happened last night." Danny says sincerely.

"How about we pretend last night never happened and we go back to hating each other? I want you to pretend that you don't know me and not say anything to me and I will do the same. We can only communicate when it's work related and that's all. I think that's a pretty easy thing for us to do." Lacey says as she eyes Danny seriously.

Danny felt his heart skip a beat. That's not what he had in mind. "I'm sorry Lacey, but I can't do that." Danny replies.

Lacey exhales and frowns. "You said you would do anything, though." Lacey counters as she tries to not let the look on his face get to her.

"I know I did, but I wasn't expecting you to say that." Danny admits.

"Oh really? What were you expecting me to say then, Danny?" Lacey asks in a defiant tone.

"I thought you were going to tell me to knock all of this stuff off my desk and we pick up where we left off last night." Danny says. Lacey's reaction is one that he might normally question, but he's already treading on thin ice.

"Last night? Why would I want to do that? Do you know how last night made me feel?" Lacey asks as she stares at him. She can't believe he brought up exactly what she was thinking about. It's like he was reading her mind.

"I assumed it made you feel good." Danny says and Lacey turns away. He slid over on the desk to get closer to her and leaned over so that he was almost in her face. "You did feel good, didn't you Lacey?" Danny asks.

Lacey gets a little flustered. "I don't want to talk about it." Lacey says as she averts his stare.

"Why not?" Danny asks.

"Because I'd rather not." Lacey says.

"Why not?" Danny asks again.

Lacey sighs. "I just told you I'd rather not talk or think about it." Lacey says.

"Why? Because you don't want to admit that you really enjoyed yourself and that you shouldn't have left? That you like me as much as I like you?" Danny questions without pause.

"If I tell you what you want to hear, will you leave me alone?" Lacey asks once she turns her head to look at him.

"I don't want you to tell me what I want to hear. I want you to tell me the truth." Danny says.

Lacey lightly chuckles. "Ok, here's the truth. Yes, I did feel good. Yes, I was going to sleep with you until you cheapened it and turned me into one of your regulars, notches, or whatever you call them. I get that what you did is part of your plan of seduction, but I don't want to be just another woman you turned out. So, there's your truth." Lacey says finally.

"Do you think I do what I did to you to every woman I want to sleep with?" Danny asks as he studies her beautiful face.

"That's exactly what I think." Lacey says as she deadpan stares at him.

"Well, you're wrong Lacey. I did what I did because I like you and I wanted to. I don't have to do that to get sex. I can get sex anywhere and from whomever I want it from." Danny says.

"Well, you can't get sex from me now, can you?" Lacey asks smartly.

Danny startles Lacey by grabbing her and picking her up and putting her on his desk. He knocked off some things in the process, but he didn't care. He stands in front of her and then parts her legs by placing his body between her knees. He slid his hand under her dress and rubbed her thigh until he reached her butt. "Are you sure about that?" Danny asks as he continues to rub on her thigh. He puts his face close to hers and presses his lips against her full, open ones.

Lacey swallows hard and subconsciously closes her eyes. "Yes, I'm sure." Lacey says though she doesn't mean it.

"I don't think you're sure Lacey." Danny says surely.

"I am sure. I mean what I say. I'm not having sex with you." Lacey says and they both know it's a lie.

"But you just said that you wanted to sleep with me last night." Danny says.

"I lied. I was just telling you what you wanted to hear." Lacey lies while trying to keep her bearings.

Danny takes his hand and slides her dress further up her thighs. "Tell me to stop." Danny says.

"I can't." Lacey replies honestly.

"Do you want me to stop?" Danny asks as he starts to rub her on the outside of her panties. He can feel how wet she is and that turns him on even more.

Lacey just locks eyes with him and shakes her head no.

"I want to taste you some more. Let me taste you again." Danny says.

"Ok." Lacey says quietly as Danny kisses her lips again. She answered a little too quickly and that isn't the answer she wanted to give him.

"Touch me." Danny says. When Lacey doesn't do what he said, he grabs her hand and moves it to his crotch area so that she can touch him. She immediately feels that he's hard as a rock. His bulge turned her on. It caused her vagina to tingle and her mouth to water. Lacey rubbed it some more through his pants until she unzipped his trousers and reached her hand through the opening. She reached in through the opening of his boxers and grabbed his penis. It was thick and bulging. She instantly wanted it inside of her. Everywhere. She wanted to do things with Danny and his penis that she had never done with any other man. She started thinking that it was perfect. She never had a perfect penis in mind but she was definitely holding it in her hand. It was the perfect width and length. Lacey got wet and excited just thinking about it. The downside would be having the perfect penis with sorry or mediocre sex. He had already went down on her and he was a pro at that. Maybe he was that good at it to make up for being a lousy lay. Yeah, he talked a good game. Danny Desai was the cockiest bastard on the planet. He could tell the sun that he was hotter than it was. He just simply walked around like he was the best and no one would tell him any different or take that away from him. Lacey wondered how he got that cocky. Was it gradual? Or did he simply come into the world thinking he was the cream of the crop. Maybe his mother doted on him and treated him like a king, so he really thought he was one.

Or maybe it was just his looks. The man was absolutely gorgeous. The epitome of hot. His chestnut-brown eyes that had specs of honey in them. His tanned skin that somehow made him sexier. His soft lips framed by right amount of facial hair. And his hair. She had never seen hair that gorgeous on another man. Most women could envy his hair. Lacey really liked his hair and wanted to run her hands through it. She had the opportunity to do just that the night before when his head was between her legs, but she was too shocked and preoccupied about his mouth being on her in that way. She didn't at all care about being naked in front of him, because being nude actually turned her on. She felt like she always wanted to walk around and be naked in front of him. She started to think more about her pussy being in his mouth and she realized that she wanted that agin. His tactics of turning her on had worked. She might as well embrace it.

"I want this." Lacey says as she continues to stroke his dick.

"I know. You ran away before I could give it to you." Danny says as he slips his finger under the outer edge of her panties and strokes her lips with his finger.

"I won't run away tonight." Lacey says. "That's if you want to give it to me." Lacey teases as she gives his bottom lip a light bite.

"Yes, I still want to give it to you. I need to ask you something though." Danny says as he continues to stroke her.

"Ask me what?" Lacey asks.

"Can I do whatever I want to do?" Danny wonders.

"Yes. But just this once. And then we have to go back to being sworn enemies." Lacey jokes.

"You know you probably shouldn't have said yes though, right Lacey? You have no idea what I want to do to you." Danny replies.

"And you have no idea what I want to do to you." Lacey says.

"Fair enough. As much as I hate to stop, I think we need to get back to work." Danny says.

"I think you're right." Lacey says as she releases his penis and zips his pants back up. "I need to go to the ladies room. I'll be right back." Lacey says to Danny and he stops stroking her and removes his hand from inside her panties. He reluctantly backs up as Lacey hops from his desk. She saunters out of his office with Danny watching her walk away. He thinks he needs to go to the men's room to get himself together also.

* * *

Lacey made her way to the ladies room and was humming to herself. She was standing at the sinks washing her hands when Whitney entered the restroom. Lacey got caught up in washing her hands, humming and smiling that she didn't notice that Whitney was just standing there and observing her with her arms folded.

"What's with you?" Whitney asks. She laughs to herself when she noticed that Lacey jumped at the sound of her voice.

Lacey turned to look at Whitney. "Oh! You startled me for a moment." Lacey says as she turns back to the mirror to check her reflection.

"I can see that. You were too busy in your own little happy world to notice I've been standing here for a little while now. So again I ask, what's with you?" Whitney replies.

Lacey looks over at Whitney again. "What do mean by that?" Lacey asks politely.

"I want to know what has you humming and smiling like you're having your picture taken." Whitney asks.

"Nothing. I'm just in a good mood. Can't I be in a good mood?" Lacey asks.

"Of course you can be in a good mood. I want to know why though." Whitney says.

"No reason in particular." Lacey lies.

Whitney raises her eyebrow and gives Lacey a wistful expression. "You slept with Danny, didn't you?" Whitney accuses.

Lacey tries to hide that she's flustered. "I did not." Lacey admits truthfully.

"Oh, yes you did. That explains it. You totally slept with Danny. How was it? I want details." Whitney says as she steps closer to Lacey.

"Details? There's nothing to tell you." Lacey lies. She has something to tell her but she isn't telling Whitney a thing.

Whitney laughs. "You are such a liar. Maybe you haven't slept with him _yet, _but you have done something. That whole thing with you two being holed up in his office for hours, going to lunch, and you guys suddenly not hating each other means that something sexual happened between you two. I know it." Whitney says surely.

Lacey decides to change the subject. "Where were you yesterday? Phoebe and I were looking for you." Lacey says.

"Don't try to change the subject by asking about me. I had a doctor's appointment and decided to take the whole day. Now answer my question. You slept with Danny, didn't you?' Whitney replies.

"Whitney, you are absolutely 100% wrong. I did not have sexual intercourse with Danny." Lacey admits honestly.

"Who said anything about sexual intercourse? I said slept. That means that you had some form of sex with him. You just ratted yourself out and you don't even know it." Whitney says.

"I did not rat myself out because we didn't sleep together." Lacey says truthfully.

"Just tell me. Did you have Bill Clinton sex with Danny?" Whitney asks in a teasing voice.

Lacey is appalled. "No Whitney. I did not have Bill Clinton sex with Danny." Lacey answers.

"Well then you must have had that other form of not sexual intercourse with him then. That would explain the humming and the smiling." Whitney says as she tries to lay it on Lacey thick so that she'll fess up.

Lacey decides to let Whitney think what she wants. She's right and Lacey hates that Whitney can read her like a book. It's so frustrating. "I did no such thing. You can believe what you'd like to believe, Ms. Taylor." Lacey says as she walks past Whitney to leave the ladies room.

Lacey hummed the whole way back to Danny's office.

* * *

Danny and Lacey worked through the first half of their day with relative ease. They had gotten the bulk of the work they needed to do, but still had things they needed to finish before they left town on Monday. Though Lacey never would have admitted it a week ago, she was glad that Mr. Wheeler put her with Danny. She actually learned a few things from him. He might be a cocky and arrogant asshole, but he was definitely good at his job. Lacey tried to put out of her mind the other thing he was good at.

"So what are we doing for lunch, Lace?" Danny asks as he surprises her by calling her the name that nobody ever calls her.

"Did you just call me Lace?" Lacey asks inquisitively.

"Yes. Why? You don't like it?" Danny asks.

"No, it's not that. Nobody has ever called me that though. I'm just wondering how you came up with it." Lacey answers.

"I guess because you're pretty and delicate, like lace." Danny says.

Lacey smiles. "I'm not that delicate, Danny." Lacey admits.

"Oh, I know you're pretty tough when you need to be. How about I only call you that in the bedroom. How does that sound?" Danny asks.

Lacey starts to giggle. "I guess that's fine." Lacey says.

"Now that that's covered, what are we doing for lunch?" Danny asks.

"I don't know. What do you have a taste for?" Lacey asks and waits for his response. She has to look up at him because he hasn't answered her yet.

"I have a taste for you for lunch, Lace." Danny says as he smirks at her. Danny and that smirk of his makes Lacey weak in the knees.

"You can have me for dinner, not lunch." Lacey says.

"That's just what I want too. I think we should head to Donna's for lunch. I could go for a turkey club." Danny says.

"Great. Are we inviting the gang?" Lacey asks.

"Sure, why not?" Danny says as they get ready to leave his office. "I'll get Cole, you get the girls. We'll meet you in the lobby in 10." Danny says.

"Alright. See you guys in 10." Lacey says as she heads for Phoebe's office. Lacey knocked on Phoebe's office door but didn't get an answer. She then went to Whitney's office where she found Phoebe and Whitney talking. Lacey knocked and then walked in. "Hello ladies. Do you have plans for lunch?" Lacey asks.

"Hello, Lacey. Nope. No plans." Phoebe says.

"What did you have in mind?" Whitney asks.

"Would you like to go to Donna's with us?" Lacey asks.

Whitney grins. "So you two are an 'us' now?" Whitney asks with that grin on her face.

"No, we're not an 'us' Whitney. Cole is coming too." Lacey says to avoid going there with Whitney.

"Count me in." Phoebe grins.

"Alright, I'm in too." Whitney says as she stands and walks from behind her desk. All three women exit Whitney's office and heads for the elevator. They make their way to the lobby where Cole and Danny are waiting.

"Hello ladies." Cole says as he flashes his movie star smile. Cole looks like he should be an actor in a Soap Opera.

Phoebe instantly starts blushing, her crush on Cole evident by her demeanor. "Hello, Cole. Hey Danny." Phoebe says.

"Hey guys." Whitney says.

Danny and Lacey are too busy gazing at each other to take part in the greetings. Phoebe, Whitney, and Cole just look at them. "Do you two want to be alone?" Cole asks.

They finally break from their gaze. "What?" Danny asks as he slowly takes his eyes off of Lacey.

"I asked if you two wanted to be alone." Cole says.

"No. Let's head to lunch, shall we?" Danny says as he and Lacey turn to head to Donna's. They didn't notice that Phoebe, Cole, and Whitney weren't right behind them.

"Those two are definitely sleeping together." Whitney says.

"I'm going to have to agree with you. The aura in Danny's office changed when Lacey arrived this morning. I felt like I was intruding." Cole says.

"Did you see the eye sex?" Whitney asks. "Not to mention she was humming and smiling in the ladies room earlier." Whitney says as she starts to walk with Phoebe and Cole following suit.

"Yeah, that was definitely eye sex. They're having regular sex too." Phoebe says.

They all make their way to the restaurant and sit at a table. The whole way through lunch, Danny and Lacey seemed to forget that there were three other people at the table with them. Whitney was greatly amused by their actions. "You two need to get a room." Whitney says, seemingly out of nowhere.

"We already have a room. My office. Right, Lacey?" Danny asks as he playfully winks at Lacey to let her know he's kidding.

Lacey giggles. "Right."

Danny reached in his pants pocket and took out his wallet. He threw some cash on the table and stood up. "Lunch is on me." Danny says as he grabs Lacey's hand. "We need to go and take care of something." Danny says before he and Lacey leave the table with Whitney, Cole, and Phoebe watching them walk away.

* * *

Lacey made her way home after putting in a full day at work. She had a little bit of time to wind down before she got ready to leave and go to Danny's. She started thinking that maybe she should stand him up to get back at him the day before. She decided against it because the truth of the matter was, she wanted Danny and wanted to do things with and to him. She was tired of lying to herself about it. They would have sealed the deal and went for it the night before, but it didn't happen that way. So instead of standing him up and in turn depriving herself, she decided on another way to get back at Danny. She had plenty of tricks up her sleeve as well. Danny mistakenly took her for a good girl. He really thought she was delicate like he said. He was wrong.

Yes, she could be dainty like a flower and delicate like lace like he said, but she had another side to her as well. He would see that side tonight. Lace, as he would call her, would be the total opposite. Lacey got giddy and excited just thinking about it. He had no idea what she had planned. She went into her closet and got what she wanted to wear before she headed to her shower. She also packed a bag just in case she ended up spending the night. She dressed quickly because she needed to make a stop before she got to Danny's place. She needed to text him and ask him something because she didn't want to ruin her plan at the last minute. Lacey got her phone and sent:

_Are there any cameras in the elevator leading to your place? _She waited for his response while she continued to get ready. He replied as she was fixing her hair.

_Yes. Why? _Danny sent as his reply.

Lacey ignored his question. _Can you turn them off? _

_Yes. Why? _Danny asked again.

Lacey smiled to herself. She again ignored his question. _It's a surprise. I'll text you when I'm outside of your place so that you can turn them off._

_What are you planning? Should I be worried? _Danny sent.

Lacey started to laugh out loud. Yes, he should worry. _No, not at all. I'll see you soon._

_I can't wait. _Danny replied immediately.

Lacey finished up at her house and headed for her car. She made the stop she needed to make before she drove to Danny's. Once that part of the mission was completed she made her way to Danny's. She texted him and told him that she was outside and on her way into the building. She reminded him to turn the camera in the elevator off. She got what she needed, walked up to the front door, hit the button and went inside after he buzzed her in. Lacey was goddy like a little girl ready to play dress up. Once she was inside the elevator, she completed part two of the mission.

It was showtime.


	11. Chapter 11

**Author's Note: Hello everyone. Here is the follow up of that last chapter. I must say that I am not proud of this chapter at all. It isn't my best work, so I won't be surprised if it's met with mixed or negative reviews. It contains some extremely mature content, so read at your own risk. I know I may go down in history as the smuttiest Dacey fic writer ever, and I gladly accept that title. I may not be the best Dacey fic writer overall, but I know some of you think i'm the best at writing smut. I'll take it. Just call me Ms. Raunchy AKA The Broke Zane. **

**I know I said that interest in my stories has seemed to dwindle, and I appreciate the people that think that isn't true. I adore my loyal fans, readers, and reviewers. I was going to end this story soon and wrap up my other one sooner than I intended because I felt like people weren't that interested. I have since changed my mind because I have some extreme twists to add to this story, so watch out. **

**And as I always say, reviews are hugs! I don't feel the need to tell you all to review or I won't update. I won't use trick or scare tactics with my readers. ;) I'd just like to let you guys know that reviews are a lifeline for writers; the good and the bad.**

**I hope you all enjoy this latest update even though I'm kind of "Eh" about it. **

* * *

While Lacey was inside the elevator, she undressed. She got so undressed to the point she was practically naked. She wanted to enter his place and knock his socks off. She stripped down to the skimpiest pair of panties in the world. They were a black soft mesh material that you could see through. They pretty much only covered her opening. It has strings like a g-string, but it was actually smaller than that. They untied like bikini bottoms. She put on her black leather jacket and black stilettos with a metallic heel. She had already done her hair in a updo and had on red lipstick that she thought made her lips look poutier and fuller. She also put on an oversized pearl necklace. And that's all she had on. She threw the rest of her clothing into the suitcase she brought with her and pressed the B to go into Danny's place. She already told him to sit on his sofa and just wait for her. She loved how the elevator just opened right up into his living room, that way he would see her immediately when the doors opened.

The elevator arrived at his place and the doors opened. Danny was of course sitting on his sofa waiting for her. He took in her appearance and instantly became aroused. She strutted up to him and he really couldn't believe his eyes. The fact that she was only wearing a tiny pair of panties and a leather jacket excited him. She didn't have anything on under the jacket and he could already see her erect nipples that he wanted in his mouth. His eyes darted everywhere, trying to take in her complete look. His eyes focused on her red lips and that caused his penis to jerk from anticipation. He was wearing a tank and a pair of boxers and he immediately wished that he was naked so that he could take her right then and there.

She walked up to him and put the suitcase on the floor and straddled his lap. She felt how hard he was and that aroused her. "You drove over here dressed like this?" Danny asked as he slightly opened her jacket to take a better peek at her breasts.

Lacey smiled widely. "No. I got undressed in the elevator. That's why i had you turn the camera off. You like?" Lacey asked seductively.

"Yes, I like. My dick is already hard just by looking at you. You look really sexy, Lace." Danny says as he wraps his arms around her and strokes her back. "The only thing I would have liked more is if you would have arrived totally naked. But somehow, this is hotter." He says as he grabs one of her ass cheeks.

Lacey giggled then moaned. "I think so too." Lacey says as she plants a kiss on his lips.

Danny pulled away slowly. "What's in the suitcase?" Danny wonders.

"Just some things I need. Some of it is for you." Lacey says as she starts to grind on him. She felt his hard dick poke her and that caused her pussy to jump. She was starting to get overheated so she took her jacket off. Lacey started to run her hands through his hair. Danny immediately grabbed her breasts and kissed them. He played with her nipples with his tongue until Lacey started to moan. He was getting ready to reach for her panties to take them off when she startled him by hopping off of his lap. She immediately got on her knees and reached for his boxers. She slowly started to pull them down as Danny lifted himself from the sofa to help her. She pulled them down to his ankles and off of his feet and grabbed his dick with her hand and she started to stroke it. The more she stroked, the bigger and harder it got. She grabbed it by the base and slowly put the tip into her mouth and started to nibble on. She then opened her mouth farther to take as much of him as she could into her mouth until the tip reached the back of her throat. She then took it out and smacked it against her tongue until Danny shifted his body on the couch under her. She took her other hand and grabbed his balls as she put his dick back into her mouth and started to bob her head up and down while massaging his balls. She then sucked and licked on the thick vein running through his penis that lead to the head. Danny couldn't keep his eyes off of her and she continued to suck and lick on his dick. He could see that her lipstick had smeared and seeing it on his dick really turned him on. He got extra excited as she looked up at him and winked. Before he knew it, he just exploded causing the semen to shoot out.. She didn't seem to mind because she started to nibble on the tip again. That caused Danny to jerk involuntarily. Lacey just finished and smiled at him when she was done. "You could have warned me you were about to cum." Lacey says playfully.

"I couldn't help it. I didn't know it was coming that fast." Danny says as he sits up a little to grab Lacey and pull her back into his lap. She again straddled him as he started to kiss her. The fact that she just had his penis on her mouth and that he could taste himself as he kissed her turned him on more than he thought it would. "Grab the suitcase." Danny says to her and she does just that. He then just stands and walks toward his bedroom with her legs wrapped around his waist. He walked right in and gently placed Lacey on the bed as she dropped the suitcase on the floor and instructed her to get near the top where the headboard was. She went and propped herself up on his pillows and just watched him take off his tank. Lacey really got the full view of Danny completely nude and it turned her on even more. He looked much better without his clothes on than she imagined. All that time she spent hating him made her feel silly now. She really liked Danny. A lot. It was obvious that he felt the same way. Lacey never thought in a million years that she would be naked in Danny Desai's bed. It would take her a long time to get over what went on the night before. She had vivid flashes and images of him eating her out. Sometimes it would just pop up and cause her clitoris to pulse just thinking about it. Lacey was hoping he would do that again, though she wasn't going to ask. Since she just went down on him, he probably felt like they were even and he would just have sex with her.

Danny got in the middle of the bed below Lacey and just sat there for a moment. He then leaned forward and started to rub her legs as he took her heels off and let them drop to the floor. "Open your legs." Danny says. Lacey smiles at him and does what he asked. He just stared between her legs and saw the wet spot that was on the panties she was wearing. He could see her fat pussy lips sticking out the sides. He felt the need to find the string that disappeared between her ass cheeks. He then laid down on his stomach so that her whole v shaped region was in his face. He reached out and grabbed the string that was at the bottom of the crotch area and pulled it from between her slit. He then started to untie the panties very slowly and removed them completely. Again, he was pleased and liked what he saw in front on him. He took his thumb and started to stroke her smooth lips. He just continued to stroke her and eye her pussy that was eager to be kissed. Her clitoris seemed to jump in anticipation. He had her cat purring like a kitten. And then like he did the night before, he just dove his head between her legs and started to lick and suck on her clitoris while he took his thumb and continued to stroke her lips. Danny stuck his thumb inside of her and took it out and sucked his thumb clean. She tasted exquisite. He then moved his thumb further down and started to stroke her perineum before moving to stroke her asshole while still sucking on her clit. Lacey had a grip on his hair as he continued to ravage her. He sucked and licked on her clit until she felt like she was going to explode. "Oh my god! It feels so good. Please don't stop." Lacey moaned.

An orgasm overtook her body as she started to writhe uncontrollably. Danny pulled back and moved his hair out of his face with one hand and looked at her. "You're a shooter." Danny says with a huge grin plastered on his face. "It shot out like water." He grabbed her legs and opened them further before he put his head back between her legs and started to taste her again. He nibbled and sucked on her clit until she screamed out his name.

"Danny!" Lacey cried out in ecstasy. She had a million thoughts running through her mind again. She started to think of him eating her the night before and realized that it was a little bit better this time around. _Oh my god! He's an expert pussy eater. This is better than last night. My pussy has never felt this wet before. _Danny pulled back from her and grabbed her thighs. He pushed them towards her until her knees were resting on her chest. He started to lick her lips before he started to lick her whole ass. When Lacey felt him lick the entire length of her crack and then felt his tongue make contact with her asshole, she felt like she had died and gone to heaven. She had never had that done before. She always thought it was nasty. Until now. She had friends tell her that she shouldn't knock it until she tried it. She didn't realize that having someone's mouth on that area would turn her on that much. But it did. She was accustomed to thinking that that area only served one purpose but she was so wrong. She probably would have went the rest of her life with that mentality. That is until she stopped hating Danny and gave him a chance. Now she was laying in his bed, getting the royal treatment. Archie and all of the other guys she has been with could really learn something from Danny.

The extremely sensitive nerve endings that were being tended to from the rim job he was giving her causes her to have a different kind of orgasm. One she had never felt before. She felt like she was floating outside of her body and saw vivid images of stars. She felt totally euphoric as her body just gave out on her and totally relaxed. She felt the dam break and she pretty much flooded his sheets with what was inside of her. She was in a state of pure bliss as Danny looked up at her. "Wow, Lace. You wet the bed." Danny said triumphantly as he laid down beside her.

"I'm sorry. It couldn't be helped." Lacey says as she looks over at him. "And I'm totally embarrassed."

"You don't have to apologize. You shouldn't be embarrassed either. Seeing that makes me feel like a king. Are you ready for more?" Danny asks as he gets out of the bed and walks into his bathroom to get a towel. He comes back on and all Lacey could focus on was his dick and how she wanted it inside of her.

"Yes." Lacey says as she continues to watch Danny's every move. He walked back over to the bed and laid the towel down under her. He reached into his nightstand drawer and pulled out a Magnum and put it on while Lacey watched.

Danny climbed on top of her and eased between her legs. She opened her legs further to allow to comfortably enter her. He took his penis and stroked it against her clit and her lips. He stuck his penis into her opening and Lacey let out a sharp intake of air. Danny was big. The biggest she had ever had actually. She liked the way it filled her up. he moved it around inside of her with his hand and then took it back out and stroked her clitoris again. When he entered her the second time, he felt harder. Her walls tightened around him as he started to grind into her. He took one of her legs and put it up near the headboard as he pounded into her. It felt like his dick was touching her backbone and it felt so good. Lacey dug her nails into his neck and back with each thrust he threw into her. Lacey started to moan as Danny went deeper inside of her. "You feel so good, Lace." Danny whispered into her ear.

Danny grabbed her leg and put it on his shoulder to change the intensity of being inside of her. He thrusted and pounded his dick into her until he felt her walls tighten and constrict around him. He took her leg off his shoulder and rolled them over so that she was now on top. Lacey started to ride him while he played with her clit. Lacey leaned back and put her hands on his thighs as she continued to ride him. He sat up a little to enjoy the view. Danny loved that position because it gave him direct view of his dick going in and out of her. He liked watching his dick disappear inside of her. He couldn't take his eyes off her pussy as he watched her lips and clit swell. Lacey started to moan loader and moved her hips faster. "I'm coming! I'm coming!" Lacey screamed out as Danny reached forward and grabbed her by her waist and pulled her onto his face to taste her juices. Her body started to jerk a little before she climbed from on top of him and got off the bed.

Lacey went to the suitcase and opened it up. "It's my turn now. Are you ready?" Lacey asks as she smiles up at him.

"What do you have planned, Lace?" Danny asks in concern as he looks at her while taking off the now full condom he was wearing.

"Just a little treat. You'll like it. I promise." Lacey teases.

"Ok. You can have your fun." Danny says. "Just remember the same goes for me though."

"Great." Lacey says as she pulls the handcuffs from the suitcase. Danny's eyes got a little wide at seeing them. Lacey climbed on him and handcuffed his wrists before she handcuffed him to the bed. She then straddled his chest and started to grind on him. She slid further down to his waist and did the same thing. She then leaned down and kissed him on his lips before sliding her tongue into his mouth. They started to kiss until Lacey led a trail of kisses from his mouth to his ear. She nibbled on his earlobe and whispered in his ear. "I love tasting myself on your tongue." Lacey says seductively.

"Me too." Danny says. Lacey then leans over and grabs something else out of the suitcase. She pulled out a bottle of strawberry flavored lube. She settled back on top of him and went for his neck. She led a trail of kisses from his neck to his nipples. She then kissed her way down his abdomen and kissed his belly button while she stroked his treasure trail. She got on her knees and poured the lube onto his dick and balls and proceeded to lick all of it off. Danny was extremely turned on by that. He wanted her to do it again. She must have read his mind because she put more of the lube just on his penis this time and went to suck and lick it all off. Lacey sucked him to the point of explosion. "Lace, I'm about to blow!" Danny says before he reaches climax. He finally reached the brink and had an orgasm that made his toes curl. "Now un-handcuff me from this bed so that I can slaughter you." Danny says in a sexy voice.

"What if I don't?" Lacey teases as she climbs back on top of him and straddles his waist.

"Oh, you will." Danny says surely.

"How do you know?" Lacey asks as she bats her eyelashes at him.

"Because you want me to slaughter you. I'm not done sexing you just yet." Danny says. "I have more orgasms to pump out of you." Lacey gets a little heated and turned on by that and gets the key to release him from the bed.

Without a word, he reaches over and grabs another condom from his nightstand and puts it on. Danny jumps up and turns Lacey over and pulls her ass close to him. She thought he was about to enter her from behind until she felt his hair fall across her backside and his tongue made contact with her opening. She felt him slip his tongue in and the hair on his face started to tickle her. He tongue fucked her from behind until he stuck his rock hard dick inside of her. Lacey gripped the sheets as he pounded in to her. It felt like he was hitting her from all sides as he continued to slam his body into hers. Lacey again saw stars and had a mind-blowing orgasm. Danny continued to thrust and she felt like she was going to explode when she had another orgasm. She had already had two and he still wasn't finished. Her vagina was throbbing from his pounding and the size of him. Danny increased his speed and she heard him grunt. His body went rigid and he collapsed beside her. Lacey laid down and just looked over at him. _I was so wrong about him. I see why he walks around like he's the shit. Because he is._ Lacey thinks.

Danny reached down and removed the second used condom and he was hard again. He looked over at her and smirked as he grabbed his dick and waved it back and forth. "I hope you're ready for more." Danny says as he goes to sit on the side of the bed. He put another condom on.

"Are you trying to make me fall in love with you?" Lacey asks as she laughs.

Danny turned around to look at her. "No. Because you're already in love with me." Danny says as he gives her that smirk again.

Lacey tsked. "No, I'm not. There you go being cocky again." Lacey says.

"I have a reason to be cocky. You just found that out." Danny says as he lays down on top of her to kiss her again. He rolled them over so that Lacey was on top again.

She reached down to grab his penis and guided it inside of her and she started to ride him. "You're alright." Lacey says as she giggles and leans over to kiss him.

"Just alright?" Danny asked.

"I've had better." Lacey jokes.

"Oh, really?" Danny asks.

"Yes. You're the worst I've ever had." Lacey says as she kisses him again. Danny takes her breath away as he gets off the bed while he's still inside of Lacey. He lays her in the middle of the bed and pulls out of her for a few seconds. He grabbed her feet and put them on his shoulder before entering her again. He supported his body weight by grabbing the back of her thighs. He started to pound into her and hit her g-spot with each thrust. Lacey cried out with each thrust. It was music to Danny's ears. Lacey had an earth shattering orgasm that rocked her whole body. She had a hard time coming down from her high. Probably because he was still slamming his dick into her.

Lacey's cries excited Danny. "Am I still the worst?" Danny asks.

"Yup." Lacey moans out breathlessly.

Danny grabbed her by her butt and turned her sideways and started to pound harder and deeper into her. He felt her walls vibrate around him. "How about now?" Danny asks.

"No! You're the best!" Lacey cried out.

"Good." Danny says as he kisses her deeply on the mouth and pulls out of her. He laid beside her, satisfied that he got her to admit he's the best.

Lacey turned to look at him. "Where did you learn to screw like that?" Lacey asks.

"College. Then I became a male escort." Danny says seriously. He keeps the stoic look on his face even though Lacey looks horrified. "I'm kidding, Lacey. You should see the look on your face." Danny says.

"That was very funny. Ha ha." Lacey says.

"Are you hungry? I need food for energy if we're going to keep this up." Danny says.

"Actually, I am. I haven't eaten since lunch."

"Ok. Take a quick shower with me and then I'll get us something to eat." Danny says as he stands and heads toward his bathroom with Lacey following. They took their quick shower together and headed to the kitchen with Lacey wearing one of Danny's tee shirts. She felt right at home as she watched Danny cook a quick meal for them. She was sitting in one of the high chairs at the counter in his kitchen with her knees to her chest. She had her arms wrapped around her legs with her head to her knees just watching him with a wistful look on her face. Gone was her irrational hatred for him. Lacey really started thinking that Danny could be a viable option for her. She never thought she would get involved with someone she works with, let alone Danny. But things had changed. Lacey really got lost in thought and hadn't realized that Danny was watching her. "Your mind seems to be elsewhere." Danny says. "I hope you aren't still thinking about your idiot ex boyfriend."

"He hasn't even crossed my mind, to be perfectly honest. I was doing some heavy thinking though." Lacey admits.

"About what?" Danny asks.

Lacey smiled and locked eyes with him. "The truth? I was thinking about you and me." Lacey replies honestly.

"So what were you thinking?" Danny asks.

"That I was wrong about you for so long and for no reason." Lacey answers.

"Well, I was wrong about you too. Not entirely though." Danny confesses.

"How so?" Lacey inquires.

Danny turns off the stove and walks over and stands in front of her. "Well, I thought you were and ice-cold princess that needed to get laid. I also thought you might be a tiger in bed. So I was partly right." Danny says as he smirks at her.

Lacey smiles at him. "Well, I thought you were a cocky, pompous asshole that had a tiny penis and was a lousy lay. I was totally right." Lacey says as she smiles at him again.

Danny's famous smirk appears. "Lousy lay huh? We'll just have to see about that." Danny says as he grabs her and pulls her from the chair. He tossed her over his shoulder and headed for his bedroom again.

He intended to prove her wrong. Even if it took all night.

* * *

**P.S. My tumblr page is not the place to leave reviews. I get so many messages on there that I don't find them or accidentally delete them. They sometimes get bunched in with all the hate mail I receive. Thank you for understanding. :)**


	12. Chapter 12

Once Danny picked Lacey up and carried her back to his bedroom, he went into attack mode. He had a mission to accomplish and a point to prove. He was too cocky to let a woman that he was with not be satisfied. Especially one he liked. He really liked Lacey and wanted to make her happy. He of course knew she was just joking about him being a lousy lay, but he used that as his excuse to get her into bed again. He could happily and comfortably spend the rest of his life in bed with Lacey. It was highly unlikely and unconventional to do that, but that's where his mind was. He never thought he would ever get the chance to be with Lacey considering her hate for him, so he wanted to cherish that. He was glad they were put on that project together because it brought them together. He and Lacey might still be arch enemies if they hadn't been forced to work together on that project.

Danny felt like he wanted to thank their boss for throwing them together because he knew for certain that she wouldn't be naked in his bed right now had they not been thrown together. He already had her quivering and he was confident he could make her do more. Seeing Lacey Porter naked in front of him still jarred him. Now she was naked in all her glory in his bed. He had tasted her and been inside of her. She had tasted him too, and that's something he never thought would happen. He enjoyed every second they were together. His dick got hard just thinking about putting it inside of her again. He loved the way she tasted and felt. He wanted to experience that for a long time.

His mission to claim the title as the best she ever had went to the point of almost extreme. He tasted and sexed Lacey to the level of exhaustion. They both had forgotten about the meal that Danny had prepared for them. They finally wore each other out and went to sleep. They awoke the next morning with very little time to spare.

Danny woke up first and realized that it was later than the time he usually got up for work. "Damn!" Danny yelled which caused Lacey to stir a little. "Lacey, wake up. We're going to be late for work." Danny says as he tries to rustle her.

Lacey looked around and almost forgot where she was. It felt a little weird to her to wake up laying next to Danny. "What?" Lacey asked with her thoughts and mind pretty clouded.

Danny got out of the bed and tried to pull her out of bed. "I said we need to hurry and get going because we're almost late for work." Danny says.

Lacey's realization of the matter at hand caused her to jump out of bed. "Dammit. It is not going to look good if both of us go in late." Lacey says.

"What are you going to wear?" Danny asks as he heads to his bathroom.

"Dammit!" Lacey says again remembering her dress she left hanging in her car. "I have a dress in my car. I have to run out and get it." Lacey says as she looks around and tries to find something to throw on to run out to her car.

Danny throws on a pair of sweat pants. "You start getting ready and I'll run down and get it. Where are your keys?" Danny asks.

"Um. I think they're in my jacket." Lacey says as she heads into the bathroom.

"I'll be right back." Danny says and off he goes. Lacey starts up the shower and hops in. She's lathering her body when Danny startles her and jumps in with her. "We should have a quickie while we're in here." Danny suggests with a smirk on his face.

Lacey looks at him and playfully rolls her eyes. "We don't have time for that. Plus, I don't think my vagina can take any more." Lacey admits truthfully as she continues to wash her body.

"I guess you're right since we're already late. I will apologize for that, but I can't apologize for not being able to keep my hands and my penis away from you. I had to make up for all that time you spent hating me." Danny says as he washes his body alongside the woman he is truly smitten with.

"I still hate you." Lacey says as she giggles.

"I still hate you too." Danny says before they just finish up in silence.

They laughed like teenagers when they both stood at the sink to brush their teeth. They stole subtle glances at each other in the mirror. They were almost falling over each other trying to get ready. Danny got a little distracted watching Lacey dress. He thought she looked amazing in the black peplum dress she put on with the stilettos she wore over there. He would always remember the way she came over to his place. Lacey was taken aback at watching Danny get ready too. Just seeing him button his white shirt and fix his tie was a turn on. She was just more clever with her watching him. The fact that they spent their evening and the entire night together naked was irrelevant. Getting ready seemed to be intimate, like they were an actual couple. Lacey had to admit she kind of liked the idea of that though she wouldn't readily admit it. She had no idea that Danny was thinking the same thing about her. He pictured Lacey as his girlfriend and the woman in his life. Now that she wasn't just the cold and bitchy monster her mistakenly judged her to be. She had awesome qualities that any man would want in a mate. He was getting older. Not too over the hill, but he was getting there. At 28, some might say that a man had plenty of time to remain a bachelor, but being a bachelor sometimes came with loneliness.

Danny wasn't exactly or technically lonely because he could pretty much have any woman he wanted. All it took was a phone call. But he somehow wanted more. Maybe it just wasn't that he wanted more, he may have just wanted more with Lacey. She seemed to change his way of thinking. He knew that he would have to make a major change if he wanted Lacey in his life and not just in his bed. That thought seemed to cover him like fog. He shook the thought from his mind and decided to test the waters. He was perfectly willing to stick his neck out when it came to Lacey. He broached subjects with her he would never bring up to another woman.

"You know, you can keep your toothbrush and some other things here if you want." Danny suggests.

Lacey looked at him in surprise. Danny kind of shocked Lacey with what he told her "Really? You want me to keep things here? Won't your little girlfriends get upset if they see another woman's stuff here?" Lacey asks candidly.

"No. I don't have any little girlfriends. Every woman I interacted with knew things weren't serious with us." Danny says. Lacey takes time to really think about what he said before she finished getting ready.

"Are you saying things are serious with us?" Lacey wonders.

"That's exactly what I'm saying. I know you just got out of a relationship and I don't want to be your rebound guy, but I want you to think about it." Danny says.

"Sure. I can think about it." Lacey says as she smiles at him while she quickly ran her flatiron through her hair. She knew that time was valuable and they didn't have much to spare.

"I feel like eating my hand because I'm starving." Danny says as they walk from his bedroom and head towards the elevator.

"I know. It's your fault we didn't eat last night though." Lacey responds as she gives him a slight smile.

"I apologize, but my cocky side took over. I couldn't let you just call me a lousy lay. My ego was bruised." Danny jokes.

"Your cocky side? That little monster is always on both sides. It's ok though. I think you have the right to be cocky." Lacey says as they step on to the elevator.

"I'm glad you approve." Danny says as he flashes her a huge smile.

"I guess I do. You can't really teach an old dog new tricks." Lacey says as she laughs. The elevator door opened and she rushed ahead of him.

"I have plenty of tricks I haven't even shown you yet." Danny says when he catches up to her and they walk out of his building.

"Promise?" Lacey asks as she pecks him on the lips.

"I promise." Danny says as he pecks her this time.

* * *

Lacey followed Danny in her car because she figured his way to work would get them there in a timely manner. She was in a fantastic mood so she put on music to match that. She decided to put on Janelle Monae. She had a gorgeous face and a gorgeous voice to match. She pulled into the parking garage right behind Danny and parked a space away. When she got out of her car, Danny was waiting for her. He actually took her hand as they strolled through the garage and headed towards their building. Lacey felt butterflies. It was weird and a little strange. It was an impossible feeling that she never, ever expected to feel. She never thought she would willingly be holding hands with Danny Desai and liking it. She had all but forgot about Archie and him hurting her by cheating on her. She really had Danny to thank for that. He said he would cheer her up and he did. He also gave her multiple orgasms and the best sex she ever had. She thought back to all that trash he talked before. She thought it was just smoke and mirrors, but the man definitely backed up every claim he made. She knew first hand that some men thought more highly of themselves than was realistic. That wasn't Danny's case at all. She actually liked how cocky he was. At first, she found it off-putting and intolerable, but now she liked it. It suited him and made him sexier. She would continue to let him think it didn't turn her on as much as it did though. She couldn't show all of her cards. Just like she couldn't reveal all her tricks their first time together. She had to save something for another time. If she just put all her cards on the table, he could get bored and things would become monotonous and mundane. She didn't want that. She had plans to have more encounters with Danny. If a relationship ever came out of it, then she would really win. All she knew at that moment was that she was totally in to Danny. She wasn't and didn't need to make any apologies for it.

They released each other's hand as they left the parking garage and headed inside the building. "Do you want some coffee or anything? Even though I'm already pepped up, I don't want to crash and burn later. We hardly got any sleep last night." Lacey states.

"Sure. I'm on the same page as you. We have a lot to do before we leave Monday. And as much as I hate to say it, we might have to do some work over the weekend." Danny says as they head towards Starbucks.

"I know. But we have four days. We just have to make sure we don't get distracted and do everything we need to do." Lacey says.

"Just so that you're aware, it's going to be a challenge for me to keep my hands off of you." Danny says as he gives her the smoldering smirk.

"If you keep your hands to yourself while we're here, I'll let you touch me as much as you want after work. Is that a deal?" Lacey teases.

"You've got yourself a deal, Ms. Porter." Danny says as they get their morning fix and head to their offices. They get on the elevator and have to keep their hands to themselves because they are not alone. They step off the elevator and Danny discreetly pinches Lacey's butt. "I'll see you soon." Danny says as he heads in the opposite direction.

Lacey grinned and blushed like a schoolgirl on her way to her office. She ran smack into Whitney on her way there. Whitney wants to take this moment and run with it. "I saw that." Whitney says.

"You saw what?" Lacey asks in mock ignorance.

"Danny pinch your ass. You two are totally sleeping together." Whitney says.

Lacey enters her office with Whitney following. Sometimes Lacey wished that Whitney's office wasn't so close to hers. This was undeniably one of those times. "We are not." Lacey lies before she goes to sit at her desk.

Whitney eyes Lacey carefully. "You are lying your face off. I can see your nose growing. Plus, all of the things you two did yesterday leads me to believe that you two are sleeping together. Did you finally get rid of Archie? I haven't seen you acting like this ever." Whitney says as she continues to eye Lacey. "You're glowing and smiling. Danny has to be the reason why."

"We are not sleeping together, Whitney." Lacey lies. "We just don't hate each other any more. Us working together on this project has made us be cordial, but that's it. Archie and I broke up, but that's neither here nor there." Lacey says. She wasn't going to tell Whitney about Archie just yet, but if that takes her focus off of her and Danny, then she's willing to discuss that. She doesn't even feel bad about their breakup any more. Thanks to Danny.

"You and Archie broke up? When? Why?" Whitney inquires as she closes Lacey's office door and goes to sit down.

"Yes, we broke up. We broke up Tuesday night. We broke up because I found out he cheated on me." Lacey says and waits for Whitney's reaction.

"_He _cheated on _you?_ Really? He was lucky to have you, and he cheated on you? With who?" Whitney asks incredulously. She really doesn't understand why a guy would cheat on Lacey considering how gorgeous and wonderful she is.

"I don't know who she is. But that's what he said. I'm fine though." Lacey says truthfully.

"That is unbelievable. You know if you were my girlfriend, I would never cheat on you." Whitney says.

"You sound just like Danny." Lacey says and realizes her mistake but it's too late now.

"Of course I sound like Danny. We both know what a great catch you are. Too bad Archie was too stupid to realize that." Whitney says.

"Thanks, I guess. So how's your dating life?" Lacey asks to take the focus off her again.

"Nonexistent. And I'm totally ok with it. I'm not ok with you always trying to change the subject when we talk about you though." Whitney replies.

"I'm not trying to change the subject. There's just nothing to tell you." Lacey lies again. She would really love to tell Whitney about her and Danny, but not just yet.

"Alright. I still think you do have something to tell me though. I know you're sleeping with him. I know I'm right. I guess I get why you don't want to tell me, but you don't have to worry about me trying to snag him once I find out how great he is in bed." Whitney counters while still eyeing Lacey carefully to see if she gets a reaction from her.

"Whitney, when I have something to tell you, I will tell you. I already know you won't try to snag him. I'm not worried about that at all. Ok?" Lacey says with a smile.

"Ok. Well, let me head to my office because I know you have to head over to Danny's. I'll see you later." Whitney says and she leaves Lacey's office quickly.

Lacey gets herself together before she heads to Danny's office. She feels like she's walking on sunshine, as corny as it may sound. She hums to herself on the short trek over to his office. She expected to see Cole in his office with him, but he was by himself. He seemed to again be waiting for her. Lacey knocks anyway. "Ready to get started?" Lacey asks as she walks in.

"Not really. There are other things I'd rather be doing with you instead of this, but I'll live." Danny says as he smiles at her and walks over to close his office door.

"You do remember our deal, right?" Lacey says as she immediately gets to work.

"Yes. Even though I don't like it. I'll just have to behave myself." Danny says as he fake pouts and blinks rapidly.

Lacey looks at the expression on his face and tries to ignore it. "Don't give me that face, mister. You will survive. If you really behave yourself, I'll make it up to you when we go out of town." Lacey says seductively.

"Then I really promise to be on my best behavior and behave myself. I will be a boy scout for the day." Danny says as he raises his hand to give her his word.

"Uh uh. The last time you said you would behave like a boy scout, I ended up naked. And now I'm falling-" Lacey starts to say but stops herself.

Danny perks up. "What were you about to say?" Danny asks in a cheerful tone.

"Nothing. Let's get to work." Lacey says.

Danny decides to let it go, because he doesn't want to upset her. He has made too much progress to backtrack. He knows she was going to say she was falling for him. That made him a very happy man.

"Me too." Is all Danny says before he gets to work. He noticed the faint smile planted on Lacey's face that she quickly tried to hide.

* * *

Danny and Lacey really got into their groove of working until Danny got a call from Mr. Wheeler's secretary, April. He wanted to see them in his office. They both leave Danny's office and head for the elevator. They ride up to the fifteenth floor in a comfortable silence. They sit in the same seats they sat in the first time they had to come to Mr. Wheeler's office. They both sat down quietly. This time the room wasn't filled with positively charged sexual tension. It was filled with something else. Something more like sexual chemistry. It oozed from them. April, Mr. Wheeler's secretary, picked right up on it. She figured that they must have done something about all of that sexual tension since they were there the last time. She still thought that they made an awfully gorgeous couple. She wondered if they already were and were just hiding it because they worked together. April became enamored with the people in front of her until she saw the light flash on her phone alerting her that Mr. Wheeler was ready for them.

"You two can go in now." April says.

Danny and Lacey stand and head inside Mr. Wheeler's office. They again approach the desk and wait for permission to sit. "Mr. Desai and Ms. Porter. Please have a seat." He smiles and waits until they're comfortable before he begins. "So, how is everything going with the project I have you two working on?" Mr. Wheeler asks.

Lacey speaks first. "It's going well." Lacey says as she smiles.

"Yes, sir. It's going well. Great, actually." Danny says.

"Wonderful. So you're all set to go?" Mr. Wheeler asks.

"Not quite. We just have to type up the report. That's an easy thing to handle before we print out our findings. We have plenty of time though." Danny says.

"Great. Well if you need to use the print room after hours, just let me know. I'll make sure the security team knows that you'll be in the building when it's closed." Mr. Wheeler says.

"Thank you, Sir. We will alert you with any needs we have." Lacey says as she smiles again.

"Splendid. Enjoy the rest of your day and your weekend. Enjoy your trip as well. I'm just a phone call away." Mr. Wheeler says.

"Thank you, Sir." Danny says and he and Lacey stand to leave his office. Once they're inside the elevator, Danny speaks.  
"We should totally have sex all over this building if we're here after hours." Danny says.

"So we can get caught? I don't think so, Danny." Lacey says.

"Then you need to give me a better alternative." Danny says.

"How about we share a room when we go out of town?" Lacey offers.

"And you said we wouldn't share a room when we left. Remember that?" Danny says triumphantly.

Lacey just looks over at him and smiles. "Of course, I remember. You should remember that I can always change my mind, though." Lacey says smartly.

"You're not going to change your mind." Danny says surely as the elevator stops and the doors open. He and Lacey stop out and head back to his office where they really work on the project so they can be close to finished. Danny had lunch delivered to his office for them because they really didn't have time to stop and go somewhere. Minus their few bathroom breaks, they worked hard past quitting time. They informed Mr. Wheeler that they would use the print room the next day. By the time they left that evening, it was dark. As they were walking to their cars, Danny again grabbed Lacey's hand. "Are you spending the night again?" Danny asks.

"Do you want me to?" Lacey asks as she playfully nudges him.

"Yes. I want that very much." Danny says.

"Ok. I have to go past my house and get some clothes though." Lacey says.

"Lacey, you're not going to need clothes." Danny responds.

* * *

Lacey again followed Danny in her car. She did her normal thing of turning on music to keep her company. She loved listening to music while she was in her car. She put on some Pink because she was in a rock star kind of mood. She pulled into the parking spot right next to Danny's. It seemed pretty surreal to her that just a mere 5 days ago, she hated Danny's guts. Well, that's the story Lacey is sticking to. She did hate him though. Now she didn't hate him. She was falling for him. She almost let it slip out that she was falling for him earlier. Though she isn't technically in love, she is in serious like right now.

Danny pressed her up against her car and gave her a deep, passionate kiss. "I'm gonna make you scream tonight." Danny says with much seduction and certainty in his voice.

"Really? Make me scream what?" Lacey asks as she places her arms around his neck.

"My name." Danny says as he pulls away from her and grabs her hand to pull her into the building. They got on the elevator and headed into Danny's place. Lacey was really starting to feel at home in his place. She felt welcomed there and enjoyed spending time with Danny. Though they worked together, spending this much time together hadn't gotten on her nerves yet. When it did, she would readily retreat to her own house. They walked over and Lacey sat on the sofa. She kicked her stilettos off after having them on all day and made herself comfortable. After turning music on, Danny came back and sat down next to Lacey. He was loosening his tie and it was turning Lacey on for some reason. She knew why though. Danny just oozed sexiness. She had never really paid attention to men and their ties before because they're just ties. But something about the way Danny adjusted his tie, rolled up his sleeves, put his hair into a bun, and stroked his goatee really turned Lacey on. Maybe it was his hands. Or his fingers. They sure felt good when they were inside of her.

Lacey got lost in thought thinking about his hands and his fingers that she didn't notice that Danny was watching her. "What?" Lacey asks subtly.

"I could ask you the same thing." Danny says.

Lacey smiled to hide her embarrassment. "I just got a little lost in thought, that's all." Lacey says.

"I get it. You can't stop thinking about me." Danny says as he grins at her.

"You can't stop thinking about me either." Lacey says as she slides closer to him and takes his hair out of the bun.

"I thought you didn't like my hair." Danny says as he pulls her legs into his lap. He slowly removed her thigh highs while gently rubbing on her legs.

"I don't. I don't like you either." Lacey says in a serious tone.

"Well, I hate you." Danny says as he slides his hand under her dress and slides her panties aside.

Lacey let out a moan when one of his fingers slipped inside her. She moved her body to straddle his waist. Lacey continued to play in his hair and then she kissed him on his lips. "I hate you too." Lacey says and kissed Danny again longer and deeper. She used her tongue this time. Danny pushed her dress up to her waist and unzipped the back. He easily slipped her dress off over her head. They went back to feverish kissing as Lacey unbuttoned his shirt while he unhooked her bra. She was now topless as she took off his shirt and helped him out of his tank. She pressed her bare chest to his. The skin to skin contact sent electric jolts through both of their bodies. She felt the hair on his chest tickle her nipples and it really started to arouse her.

Danny grabbed a handful of her ass and felt himself almost burst out of his pants. "Take these off." Danny says as he sticks his finger under the rim of her panties. Lacey quickly stood in front of him and then slowly pulled her panties down. She immediately hopped back on his lap and started to kiss him again. She could feel how hard and ready for her he was when she straddled his lap. Danny undid his belt and unbuttoned his pants. He lifted himself and Lacey off the sofa as he pulled down his pants and boxers at the same time. Lacey's hand reached down to grab his penis and put it inside of her as soon as he was seated back on the sofa. They continued with their deep kissing as they started to move with each other. Lacey rode him while he rubbed and grabbed her ass cheeks. Danny gave her ass a light smack before he went back to kneading it. Without pulling out of her, he stood and laid her on the couch. He changed the pace and the feel of their sexing when he laid on top of her. Lacey wrapped her legs around his waist as they settled into their new groove. Danny surprised Lacey by changing the pace and position again when he pulled out of her and told her to turn over. She raised up on her knees and backed her ass up to him as Danny entered her slowly. He took his dick out and started to smack it against her ass. He entered her again and gave her a few forceful thrusts before he took his dick out again. He used the tip of his dick to play with her clitoris from behind. When he had her panting, he entered her again and started to pound his dick in to her. He grabbed her thighs and lifted her off her knees slightly. That really changed the intensity of him being inside of her. His dick really felt like it was a part of her because of the position they were in. It didn't take long at all for Lacey to start to moan louder and go over the edge. Danny continuing to pump into her took her past the point of no return as she started to quiver and shake. She cried out his name. Lacey actions were music to Danny's ears and it sent him over the edge as well. He grunted and let out an unrecognizable sound before his body finally relaxed behind Lacey and they both collapsed on the sofa.

"That was good." Danny says as he shifted his body behind Lacey's on the sofa.

"That was better than good." Lacey says.

"Now, I need a meal and a shower. Care to join me?" Danny asks.

"Yes. What are we going to eat though?" Lacey asks as she sits up.

"I'll just order something. But tomorrow, I get to take you on a date. A real date. How about it?" Danny asks.

"Ok. But I'm not sleeping with you." Lacey jokes.

"I know." Danny says as he stands and guides Lacey to his bathroom where they take a shower. After that, Lacey again threw on some of Danny's clothes while he ordered take out. He threw away the food he had forgot about that was left on the stove the night before. They ended their night with game playing and another session on the sofa/bed. Lacey attacked Danny this time.

* * *

The next morning, Danny awoke to Lacey cooking them breakfast. He hadn't even noticed that she left the bed. Lacey took in Danny's appearance and though he looked incredibly sexy even though he just woke up. Just seeing him in a pair of boxers with his hair out was a huge turn on.

"Good morning." Lacey says with a smile. "I hope you don't mind I raided your kitchen."

"Good morning. Not at all. Thanks for fixing us breakfast." Danny says.

"You're welcome. I have to head home after we eat and then I'll meet you at work so that we can finish on our project." Lacey says as she places food on her plate.

"Yeah, I want to get that completed as soon as possible so that we can have the rest of the day to ourselves." Danny says as he makes his plate.

"Where are we going on our date?" Lacey asks.

"Dinner and somewhere else. I'm not really sure where yet." Danny says.

"Ok." Lacey says and they eat their breakfast. Lacey leaves and heads to her place to look presentable enough to go into work. She met Danny there and they spent a few hours in the print room getting their project in order. They breathed a sigh of relief when the put the last folder together. Lacey again headed back to her place for a quick nap and a few things she needed to do at her house. She packed another bag just in case she spent the night with Danny again.

She got ready for their date after her bag was packed and her outfit selected. She decided on a magenta short strapless dress paired with a black belt, blazer, and pumps. She looked absolutely stunning. When she arrived at Danny's place, he actually became speechless when she got off the elevator.

"You look incredible, Lacey." Danny says as he continues to stare at her. He is seriously mesmerized by her beauty.

"Thank you. You look incredible too." Lacey says. He really does. He's wearing black slacks and a black button down shirt. And he has his hair out again. Lacey finally stopped fighting pretending that she didn't like his hair. She finally stopped fighting pretending she didn't like him. "So, are you ready?" Lacey asks.

"Yes. And we're going in my car." Danny says as he turns everything off and gets ready to leave.

"Good, because I've never been in a Porsche before." Lacey says as she giggles.

"Then that means you've never had sex in a Porsche before either." Danny says as he smirks at her.

"That would be correct." Lacey says as she giggles again.

"That would be the way we'll end our evening." Danny says.

"I'm game." Lacey says as they step on the elevator. They head down and out of the building. Danny was the perfect gentleman and held his car door open for her. They made their way into the city and Danny parked. They were walking down the lively street hand in hand, all over each other. Lacey was gazing at Danny like a teenager in love. She was so busy looking at Danny that she didn't realize someone had walked up to them. Lacey and Danny stopped walking abruptly at the intrusion.

"Hello, Lacey." Lacey looked up and couldn't believe who was standing in front of her. "This must be Danny, right?" Lacey heard the words spoken in a condescending and harsh tone. Danny looked from Lacey to the guy, wondering how he knew his name.

Lacey really, really didn't want to deal with standing face to face with Danny and Archie.


	13. Chapter 13

**Author's Note: Hello folks. I just wanted to drop you all a line before reading this. Writing fanfiction isn't as easy as some think. Especially when you have people constantly trying to either break your flow, make you feel insecure about your writing, put you down, or just spread negativity and hate. I am no stranger to that, though I know other writers get it too. I sincerely hope that no other author gets the amount of hate I get. I usually don't speak about it, or I just make light of it by giving a shout out to the person that sent it to me. I kind of don't really want to do this, but I kind of do just in case they are successful in their actions. These were sent to me on tumblr:**

I wish you wuld stop trying to take all the shine. We already decided that XXXXXXXXXXXX is the best story so you can stop yours. your story is just porn with dacey added to the mix. maybe you should do like XXXXXXXXXXXX and actually have depth to your story instead of what you write.

**And:**

Nobody cares about your updates. I don't see people chanting 'woot woot' when you update.

**And this gem:**

Fighting Fire sucks. XXXXXXXXXX is better.

**Now, I purposely x'd out the name of the story and the author's name. I feel like sending me these messages is totally unnecessary. I don't think I should stop writing my story because a group of people on tumblr decided that they like another story better than mine. Judging by the response that I have gotten from this story, I think a lot of people DO like it. I know there are people that go out of their way to not read my stories. There are probably some that read and then refuse to acknowledge that they have read it by reviewing. I know I'm not well liked, and I really don't care. I know I say how I feel a little too much for folks. I know some think I cuss too much and I keep it too real, and I don't care what people think of it and me. But I do care that someone is purposely trying to go out of their way to tell me how much they don't like me and my story(ies). **

**Believe me, if there's too much smut in this story, and it's not deep enough, I will gladly let the favorite take it off my hands and make improvements. It's not a problem. I think I should point out that I don't get paid for this and I do it in my spare time. Meaning, I don't have to do this. And if I'm really doing a terrible job, I will gladly pass the torch. Just say the word. **

**If a story about two sexy adults getting it on is too much for you, then I don't know what to tell you. Yes, I do. Don't read this story. It's that simple. There are several stories on here that aren't as hardcore as mine is. So, have at it. If you want them to flirt with each other for 20 chapters before anything happens, I am not the author for you. I got a lot of hate and shade for the Jo thing, now this. And I'm so over it. **

**As always, thank you to my loyal fans, readers, and reviews. I write for you. I cherish and appreciate this special group of women Monni2215, Natalie92, KyndraLasha, and Lives4Dacey. I know I have more fans, and I truly apologize for forgetting anybody. But these women have rocked with me story after story, chapter after chapter, review after review. I adore each and every one of you more than you know. **

**As always, Thank You for reading. Reviews are hugs. **

* * *

Lacey immediately knew that her being in the same space with Danny and Archie would not fare well. Especially since Archie insisted on being an asshole in the situation. He could have easily just kept on walking and pretended that he didn't see Lacey. Then he had the audacity to call her and Danny out. Surely Danny would want to know who this guy is and how he knows his name. While she wasn't at all ashamed or embarrassed being out on a date with Danny because she wasn't cheating on Archie, he still brought up the reason he confessed to cheating on her in the first place. He seemed angry and bitter. He had a reason to be, she guesses. He also cheated on her, so his feelings were unimportant to her and irrelevant to say the least.

Lacey started to blame herself for the situation at hand. Had she not been preoccupied with being totally enamored with Danny and gazing at him like he was her first boyfriend, she would have seen Archie beforehand. She could have embraced Danny in a kiss or even suggested that they head in an opposite direction. She normally would not care about running into an ex while with another man, but the way she and Archie ended wasn't amicable. They ended on a totally messed up and sour note. And now while she looked at him, she saw that same look in his eyes after she mistakenly called out Danny's name during sex. His eyes seemed darker than the blue than they normally were. He also had a smug expression on his face. It did nothing but alert Lacey that he intended to cause a ruckus. She wasn't in the mood for pandemonium. She really wasn't.

"Why so quiet, Lacey? You look like you aren't happy to see me. This is Danny, right? If I called this guy by the wrong name, then I'm a deeply sorry. I know that's usually your forte." Archie says. Lacey cut her eyes at Archie at him trying to make her look bad.

Danny is still looking at this guy that rudely interrupted him and Lacey. It wouldn't take a genius to figure out that he knows Lacey, but Danny really wanted to know how he knew his name. Danny turns toward Lacey. "Who is this guy, Lace?" Danny asks.

Archie didn't seem too pleased with Danny calling her Lace. He frowned at hearing it. He didn't like seeing how happy she was to be walking with this dude. This dude with the long hair. He now knew why she asked him if he ever thought about growing it long. She seemed to be in love. He hated that. He knew for certain that she was sleeping with this dude. He didn't for a second believe that she wasn't sleeping with this guy while she was with him. He would make it his mission to make her feel as bad as she made him feel. Lacey never would have found out that he cheated on her, had she not committed the ultimate sin.

Lacey takes a deep breath. Well if he wants an introduction, he'll get one. "Danny, this is my ex boyfriend Archie. Archie, you were right. This is Danny. Now please excuse us." Lacey says as she squeezed Danny's hand tighter and tries to walk around Archie.

Archie sidesteps to halt Lacey's movements. "Why are you trying to run off so fast? Surely you have a minute to chat. Plus, I need to thank you for the way you just put all of my stuff in a trash bag and left it on my doorstep. Thank you for that, _Lace._ " Archie counters smartly. The way he sneered out "Lace" gave Lacey an uneasy feeling.

Danny isn't at all pleased with Archie's actions. He now feels the need to involve himself. "You must be the idiot that cheated on her. Thanks man. I really have to thank you for that one. Thank you for that, _Archie._" Danny says in a condescending tone. He really does think Archie is an idiot for cheating on Lacey and has no problem with telling him so.

"Yeah, I was an idiot and cheated on her. You got me. Did she tell you how she found out I cheated on her?" Archie asks as his eyes bore into Lacey.

"No, she didn't. It isn't important though. I'm just glad you did because your loss was definitely my gain." Danny says as he smiles widely and pulls Lacey closer to him.

"Well, since she didn't tell you, maybe I should." Archie says as he squares up with Danny.

Lacey looks horrified. "Archie, don't." Lacey says.

Archie ignores what Lacey just said. "Why don't you want me to bring it up? I should be the one that's embarrassed. You know, it isn't every day you have sex with your girlfriend, and she calls out another man's name." Archie says.

"You bastard." Lacey spat as she shakes her head in disgust.

Danny really can't believe his ears. _Did he really just say that she called out his name during sex? _"Dude, you really should have kept that to yourself. You should feel incredibly small. But thanks for making me feel like a king." Danny again says smartly as he smirks at this sorry excuse for a man.

"I guess you're right. I guess I'm a little bitter about her yelling out your name instead of mine. She also asked me to grow my hair long, and now I see why. The bitch was just screwing me 5 minutes ago-" Archie couldn't even finish his statement because Danny charged at him and pressed him against the wall.

Danny initially thought Lacey was a bitch himself, but he would never call her one to her face. He realized how wrong he was in thinking that about her and felt ashamed knowing that he said it too. But there was no way in the world he would allow this prick to disrespect her like that in front of him. "What did you call her?" Danny asks angrily.

"I'm just calling it like I see it. Only a bitch-" Archie tries to finish his sentence, but Danny isn't having it. Danny immediately gave him a right hook. And then another. The next thing Lacey saw was Danny and Archie fighting like dogs. Danny was more than a pretty face because he was getting the best of Archie. A few guys that were on the street ran up to break it up.

Lacey wished she was anywhere but there at that moment. She couldn't believe that Archie and Danny were fighting over her. She appreciated that Danny defended her honor, but she was still completely embarrassed about the whole situation at hand. She felt like she was having an out-of-body experience. She saw what was going on around her, but she was paralyzed; frozen in place. It was unbelievable that this was happening.

Lacey heard Archie and Danny yelling obscenities. The other men finally broke Danny and Archie up and all Lacey wanted to do was disappear. She couldn't just leave Danny on the street alone, but she wanted to run away. She looked and noticed that Archie was on the ground. She only hoped he wasn't seriously hurt or dead for Danny's sake. When she heard people mention calling the cops, she felt it was best that they get out of there. They had a business trip to go on. Danny could, but he couldn't afford being arrested.

"Danny, let's go." Lacey says as she grabs his arm and they turn in the opposite direction. Their date night was completely ruined. She and Danny made their way back to Danny's car and he sped off back to his place. They rode in a deafening silence. Danny just focused on the road, while Lacey just focused on looking out the passenger side window. Lacey was glad that Danny hit Archie, but she really wanted to kick his ass herself. He couldn't just leave well enough alone. He intentionally tried to hurt and shame her. Lacey thought that he was truly a bastard and she was happily relieved that their relationship was over.

But where did that leave her and Danny? Though they weren't technically in a relationship, Archie just threw a monkey wrench into them possibly becoming one. All because of his bruised, stupid ego. He laid two of her secrets bare for the world to see. She never thought Danny would ever find out about her asking Archie if he ever thought about growing his hair or her yelling out his name while she was sleeping with another guy. Lacey had never felt more small or been that embarrassed in her life. She again wished she could kick his ass herself. She wondered what she ever saw in him.

She looked up and realized that they were back at Danny's place. Lacey finally looked over at Danny. She wondered what he was thinking, but didn't want to ask. Sometimes asking men what they're thinking isn't a good thing. She just waited for him to speak first. She had no idea what to say until she found out where his head was. What does she say at a time like this? I'm sorry? That was pretty funny, huh? Thanks for defending me? What does she say?

"Are you coming in?" Danny asks after several minutes of silence.

Lacey didn't feel like playing the question game with him. Not now. "Yes." Lacey says quietly. They both open their car doors and get out of the car and walk into Danny's building. They rode they elevator without a word. They entered his living room and sat on the sofa. The silence was maddening, but Lacey didn't want to speak until Danny did. She figured she owed that to him after what just happened. She really didn't know what to say anyway.

"Your ex boyfriend is a dick. I already told you he was for cheating on you, but he really is." Danny says.

"You're absolutely right about that. If I wasn't sure of it before, I am now." Lacey says in a monotonous tone. "Thank you for defending my honor." Lacey says as she looks over at him.

"You don't have to thank me for that. I'd do it again." Danny admits honestly. "So, are you going to tell me what that was all about?" Danny asks as he shifts his body towards her.

Lacey can't possibly not tell him the story. Her cover had already been blown. Lacey sighs before she begins. She's deeply embarrassed. She really doesn't want to tell Danny this story. "That day we kissed I still had you on my mind. I got caught up in the moment, and I called out your name." Lacey says. She wanted to crawl in a hole somewhere and die.

"So, you really called out my name while you were with him?" Danny inquires.

_Why is he asking me a question he already knows the answer to? _"Yes." Lacey admits. "I'm sorry."

Danny looks over at her. "Why are you apologizing?" Danny questions.

"I don't know. It just feels like the right thing to do." Lacey says as she tries to crack a smile.

"You don't have to apologize, Lacey." Danny says.

"I don't really know what to say in a situation like this though, to be perfectly honest." Lacey says.

"You really asked him to grow his hair long?" Danny asks her with a straight face.

Lacey exhales sharply as she closes her eyes. "I didn't ask him to. I just asked him if he ever thought about growing it long. There is a difference." Lacey says to come to her own defense now.

"I knew you didn't really hate me. I also knew you didn't hate my hair. Now I have proof." Danny says as he smirks at her.

Lacey folds her arms and glares at him. She should have known he would enjoy this. "I do hate you. You hate me too, remember?" Lacey says surely.

"Of course I remember. I hate you is just code for I like you. It's ok to admit it now. You kind of have to. Seeing as though you were fantasizing about me before we even got together." Danny says. "And then you wanted this asshole to grow his hair like mine. You like me and my hair."

"I can easily cut your hair to show you that I really do hate it and you." Lacey says defiantly.

"Whatever Lacey. That isn't the truth and you know it. I had you calling out my name before I even touched you. I. Am. The. Man." Danny chants in victory.

Lacey just looks at him and huffs. She gets up from the sofa with her purse in hand. "Bye, Danny." Lacey says as she walks to the elevator. She presses the button and nothing happens. She hasn't realized that Danny turned the elevator off. She turns back to him. "Let me out of here." Lacey says in a demanding tone.

"I'm sorry Lacey, but I think the elevator is broken. I can't let you out. It looks like you're stuck here." Danny says as he stretches out on the sofa and smirks at her as he puts his hands behind his head. There is another way out, but Danny knows that Lacey doesn't know that. He knows she assumes that the door leading to the stairs is a closet or something.

Lacey wants to wipe the smug look off of his face. "I will call the police and tell them that you kidnapped me." Lacey threatens.

"No you're not. They wouldn't believe you any way. Once they see the surveillance footage of you willingly coming over here, they'll arrest you for making a false police report." Danny says as he smiles at her and then winks.

Lacey really wants to get back at Danny for that. "Fine." Lacey says. She just turns and heads back towards his sofa. She fools Danny by walking past him and into his kitchen. He turned to see what she was doing when he heard the drawer open. Lacey reached in and got the scissors she saw in there when she fixed them breakfast that morning. Lacey hid the scissors under the sleeve of her jacket and returned to the living room. She climbed on Danny and straddled him. "I think it's sexy that you don't want me to leave." Lacey says before she pecks Danny on the lips.

"Good. I don't want you to leave. I want to keep you here forever." Danny says as he kisses her on the lips.

"Forever? Forever is a long time." Lacey says as she starts to stroke his hair. She easily pulled it into a ponytail.

"Well I want you here for a long time." Danny says as he puts his hands on her waist.

"You'll want to keep me here even after I cut your hair?" Lacey says as she slides the scissors into her hand. She has a grip on the ponytailed hair in her other hand.

"Lacey, what are you doing?" Danny asks as a little bit of fear overcomes him.

"I will cut your hair if you don't let me out of here." Lacey says with a smile.

Danny suddenly realizes his dilemma. While he isn't that attached to his hair, it is a part of him. Her cutting it would somehow cut him. "Please don't cut my hair." Danny says in a calm and sweet tone.

"I won't if you let me out of here." Lacey says in a calm and sweet tone that matches his. She flashes him a huge smile, revealing her dimple.

"I thought you were staying though. I don't want you to leave." Danny admits honestly.

"I was. That is until you decided to tease me about an involuntary lapse in judgment and a suggestion to my asshole ex. Now, I want to leave." Lacey says as she opens the scissors and closes them back while also tightening her grip on his hair.

"I'm sorry, Lacey. I didn't mean to tease you. I apologize. Don't cut my hair." Danny pleads with her.

"Why? Will it make your dick smaller if I cut your hair? Do you need it to survive?" Lacey asks in a teasing tone.

"No, but I really don't want you to cut it. I'll unlock the elevator. I promise." Danny says.

"Alright, but no funny business. Are we clear?' Lacey asks to taunt him. Lacey opens the scissors again to show him she wasn't playing.

"Yes, we're clear." Danny says as he smiles at her. "Can you put the scissors away?" Danny asks timidly as he blinks at her rapidly. He's giving her that face.

Lacey inadvertently lets her guard down and Danny goes in for the kill. He surprised her when he reached up and grabbed her wrist forcing her to drop the scissors. He grabbed her by her arms and picked her up while he stood from the couch. He playfully tossed her on the sofa. He reached for her and Lacey smacked his hands away. He reached for her again and she really started to swat and smack at his hands. He somehow got a hold of her wrists so she couldn't smack at him any more. Lacey kicked off her stilettos and kicked him in his thigh. "If you don't let me go, I will kick you in the balls." Lacey says through clenched teeth.

"Now why would you want to do a thing like that, Lacey?" Danny asks in a boyish tone.

"Because you won't let me go." Lacey says.

"I can't help that you're so cute and I want to touch you." Danny says as he grins at her.

"I'm mad at you for teasing me. And I will really kick you in the balls if you don't let me go." Lacey says as she matches his grin.

"Ok. I'll let you go." Danny says as he slowly releases her hands.

"Thanks." Lacey says as she smiles and tries to sit up.

"Are you hungry? We didn't get a chance to eat and I am." Danny says as he looks at her with the eyes Lacey has to sometimes avoid to look directly in sometimes because of what they do to her.

"Yes, I am hungry. I almost forgot I was for a minute." Lacey says as she makes herself more comfortable on the sofa. She was getting less mad at Danny for teasing her.

"What would you like? We can still go out. It isn't that late." Danny says.

"I think I could go for just about anything." Lacey says as she puts her shoes back on.

"Why don't we try going on our date again? Hopefully we don't run into any more of your bitter exes." Danny says.

"Ok. You promise not to tease me any more?" Lacey asks as she fake pouts.

"Yes. Even though I hate you taking my fun away from me." Danny admits.

"You're just going to have to deal with it." Lacey says without apology.

"I guess so. So, are you ready to go?" Danny asks.

"Yes. Lead the way." Lacey says as she stands to straighten her dress. "No, give me a sec or two. I need to head into your bathroom." Lacey says as she heads to his bathroom. She checks her refection in the mirror and freshens up her lipstick. She heads out the bathroom to a waiting and grinning Danny. She gives him a smile and off they go. They head to the elevator and make their way downstairs and out of the building. Danny was again a gentleman and opened Lacey's door for her. The were driving along when Lacey fidgets and starts to mess with her seatbelt. She subtly scooted over in her seat. Once she was as close as she could get, she took her hand and reached for Danny's crotch. She started to stoke him slowly, instantly feeling his arousal.

Danny slightly shifted in his seat and looked over at her. "What are you doing, Lacey?" Danny inquires. Lacey doesn't answer him and just goes back to stroking his erection through his pants. She then reached for his button and undid it slowly and then unzipped his pants. She reached her hand in his boxers and pulled his dick out. She started to stroke it as she felt it get bigger and harder in her hand. She rubbed her thumb across the tip and felt a drop of pre cum on her thumb. She went back to stroking it. Then she took her hand away. Danny peeped over at her. 'Why did you stop?" Danny asked in a low tone. Lacey still ignored him. She reached back over and started to stroke his dick again. She sped up her stroking and tightened the grip she had on him. That caused him to let out a little moan. She turned her body slightly in her seat to put her other hand in his pants and grabbed his balls. She used her thumb to simultaneously stroke the thick vein running through his penis and then his head. Lacey was glad that Danny had the newer Porsche model that had more space in the front and that his windows were tinted. She prayed they didn't get into an accident, because she would definitely be hurt from impact. She decided that she only lives once and undid her seatbelt. Lacey turned Danny into a young boy excited about the first day of summer vacation when she leaned over in her seat and put his penis into her mouth. He actually swerved the car some when she started to suck on the tip. Danny had to resist the urge to lean his head back and enjoy it. He unconsciously closed his eyes for a second. He resisted the urge to grab her head and thrust into her mouth. It felt that good to him. He felt his leg jerk and he almost slammed on the break. "Lacey, are..you...trying...to...kill...us?" Danny asked through grunts and pants.

Lacey giggled to herself and the vibration from her laughing felt good on his dick. She quickly released him and looked at him. "Do you want me to stop?" Lacey asks. When he gave her an inaudible grunt, she went back to sucking on him. Maybe because that was one of his fantasies, and he was having it fulfilled by this particular woman, it really turned Danny on. He was really starting to more than like Lacey. Her adventurous nature was definitely a turn on. Plus, she seemed to be uninhibited. Though he hasn't exactly tried all the nasty stuff he wanted to do to her, he thought she might be willing to experiment and try different or new things with him. He was undoubtedly and surprisingly having the best sex of his life. His mind drifted to all the times he fantasized about having sex with Lacey to prolong this experience, because if he just focused on receiving this blow job from her, he wouldn't last much longer. He foolishly and mistakenly thought of her full lips, and that sent him over the edge.

"Lace...I'm...about...to...cum." Danny once again managed to grunt out. Lacey immediately released him and sat up in her seat as she watched him ejaculate on his boxers and pants. Lacey straightened out her dress and put her seatbelt back on with a self satisfactory grin on her face. Danny was still driving and trying to compose himself when his eyes darted over towards her. "Do you see what you did? Look at my pants, Lacey." Danny managed to get out.

"Good luck with that. That'll teach you to tease me." Lacey says playfully as she stares out her window.

Danny looked over at her and the look on her face, and he had to admit to himself that he was impressed. His pants looked like he came all over himself. People would point and look at him like he's a pervert. "Well done, Lace. Well done." Danny says as he parks his car.

"I think so too." Lacey says as she flips down her visor and touches up her lipstick.

He continued to look at her and in that instant, he fell in love with her. He already knew he wanted to love her, and that he would do anything to keep her in his life. He knew that he wanted to completely separate this aspect and build a meaningful relationship with her. While he was glad to know that they were sexually compatible, he wanted to make sure they were compatible in other ways too. He would start building on that the next day, but right now they had unfinished business.

Danny felt like there was no use in trying to make himself presentable enough to leave his car and actually go into a restaurant. He did just adjust himself and zip his pants back up. "Are you ready?" Danny asks as he glanced over at Lacey again.

"I sure am ready, Danny." Lacey says as she looks over at him and bats her eyelashes and blew a kiss at him. That instantly aroused Danny. He just started his car back up and pulled off. Lacey looked at him in surprise. "I thought we were going to eat? I'm still hungry." Lacey says.

"I'm still hungry too. But you should have thought about that before you made me bust one all over my pants." Danny says as he speeds through the yellow light.

"So where are we going?" Lacey asks sheepishly.

"Back to my place. I'll order Chinese." Danny says. He's planning on doing other things, but he wants to surprise Lacey with those plans.

"Great." Lacey says enthusiastically. "Too bad we didn't get to go on our date, though." Lacey says.

"I'll take you on a date tomorrow." Danny says as he flashes his sexy grin.

"I have a lot to do tomorrow. I haven't been home since you seduced me." Lacey says as she looks over at him and grins.

"I'm sorry that I want you with me all the time. You know, you could always move in." Danny counters and waits for her response to that.

_Move in? He wants me to move in? Isn't it too soon and just plain crazy for me to move in with him? And the really crazy part is I'm actually considering it. _Lacey just looks over at him and smiles. "I'll think about it." Lacey says.

"Good. And for the record, I didn't seduce you." Danny says as he looks over at her and smirks.

"Yes you did. You knew I wouldn't stand a chance after you decided to cheer me up." Lacey says defensively, but playfully.

"I guess I see your point. But don't forget that you wanted another dude to grow his hair long and you called out my name. Remember that, Lacey." Danny says in an amused tone.

"You're never going to let me live that down, are you?" Lacey asks as she looks at him and cuts her eyes.

"Nope." Danny says as he laughs. He has finally pulled up in front of his building. He can't wait to get inside. He gets out of the car and notices that Lacey hasn't budged. He figures she wants him to open the door for her. He walks around to open the door and Lacey still doesn't budge. She folded her arms across her chest and started to pout like a child. "Lacey, get out of the car. I'm sorry I teased you again." Danny says sincerely even though he doesn't mean it.

Lacey doesn't budge and turns her head away from him. Danny startles her by reaching over and unlocking her seatbelt. He grabbed her to pull her out of the car. "Ok, ok. I'm getting out." Lacey says as she swings her legs around to get out of the car.

"You're so cute when you pout." Danny says as he pecks her on the lips. He grabs her hand and guides her into the building. Danny is on his best behavior as he leads Lacey on the elevator. He leans against the wall and smiles over at her as the door closes. Once it's fully shut, he goes into attack mode. He stopped the elevator and was instantly in front of her. He pressed her against the elevator wall and kissed her while he undid his pants and pulled his penis out. He picked up and continued to press her against the wall. He slid her panties to the side and stuck his finger inside of her. He finger fucked her until her pulled out and entered her. She wrapped her legs around his waist as he grabs her ass. He slowly starts to grind into her as she wraps her arms around him and almost forcefully grabs the back of his hair. He tongue kisses her deeply as he continues to pound in to her. He increased his speed and thrusted into her until she started to yell. "Shhhhh. No noise." Danny says as he thrusted harder in to her. He loved how Lacey bit her lip to stifle her moans. That excited him and caused him to increase his thrusts.

Lacey increased her grip on his hair as she put her mouth to his neck. She nibbled on his ear and whispered into it. "Harder." Lacey says and that really turns Danny on. He changed his grip on her ass to angle her body differently. That changed the way it felt when he was inside of her. He felt bigger and he was hitting her g-spot. Lacey let out a whimper as the orgasm overtook her. Danny felt her walls tighten and her wetness increase on his dick and that sent him over the edge. He exploded and unloaded right into her. He again kissed her deeply as he pulled out of her and let her down from the wall. He pulled his pants up and started the elevator again.

The elevator stopped at his place and they just walked in completely out of breath. They both walked over and sat on his sofa. Lacey kicked off her stilettos and took off her blazer. Danny looked over at her and thought she looked beautiful with her orgasm face in tow. "That was great. We should do that more often." Danny says.

"Yes we should. Now, I need food and a shower." Lacey says as she stands and walks toward Danny's bedroom. She takes her dress and underwear off and walks into his bathroom. She enters his shower and starts the water. Danny startled her when he opened the door and joined her.

"We have to hurry, because I already ordered the food." Danny says as he kisses her again. They showered quickly and didn't touch each other even though Lacey desperately wanted to have shower sex. They exited the shower and dressed in a hurry before the food got there. Danny threw on a pair of pajama pants and a tank. She really wanted him to go topless because she loved his chest. Lacey just threw on one of his tees. She loved wearing his tee shirts and nothing else.

They walked back into the living room hand in hand. Danny turned on some music and they just sat on the sofa quietly enjoying each other's company. Their food arrived and they actually had fun eating their Chinese food.

While they were eating, Danny just stopped abruptly and looked up at Lacey. "I can't believe you really threatened to cut my hair." Danny says in an amused tone.

"I sure did. And I would do it again. Next time I really might." Lacey says as she playfully sticks her tongue out at him.

"You're not going to cut my hair. You like it too much." Danny teases.

Lacey frowns. "I hate you." Lacey says.

"Lacey, I hate you too." Danny says.

* * *

Lacey awoke that morning with plans of going home, doing laundry, and packing for their business trip. While she enjoyed all the time she was spending with Danny, she didn't want to go overboard by spending too much time with him. She looked over at him sleeping and she had to smile to herself. She was really starting to develop feelings for him. Then Lacey realized she wasn't being completely honest with herself. She already had feelings for Danny. She was in love with him though admitting that to herself seemed crazy. Though she has known him for years, she had only known this side of him for a week. Now she could admit to herself that her years of hating Danny were just a farce. She did hate what she mistakenly thought about him. But she was also deeply attracted to Danny and that caused her to be a little upset with herself for liking a man who had qualities that she hated. So she pretended to hate him. It seemed easier that way. And then they got put together on that project, and she couldn't keep up the façade any longer. Danny had grown on her. She was glad she didn't have to pretend any more. She still didn't know where things officially stood with them, but she figured they would discuss it soon enough.

Lacey got out of his bed and headed to his bathroom. She relieved herself and brushed her teeth. She went back into his room and started to dress. She had things to do. She couldn't believe she had two overnight bags at Danny's house. She looked around and noticed that she had a lot of stuff at his place already. He said it was ok, but she didn't realize just how much stuff she left there. She packed up what she planned to take with her because they needed to be washed and she needed her suitcase for their trip.

Lacey was relieved that Danny was still asleep as she slipped out of his place quietly. She would return in a few hours if he wanted her to. Lacey drove home in a good mood with her music blasting. She was happy. She loved how happy she was. She pulled into the driveway of her townhouse and got out of her car. She saw that they had recently cut her grass. She was grateful for the HOA she had when she bought the house because there was no way she going to cut grass or shovel snow. She got her suitcase and headed inside. She had mail to go through. The good thing was her place was clean since she hadn't been there. All she had to do was laundry and pack. She kind of wanted to sleep in her own bed, but it wasn't that big of a deal. She was sorting her laundry when her phone rang. It was Danny.

"Hello?" Lacey answered in a chipper tone.

"Why did you leave without saying anything?" Danny asks.

"I didn't want to interrupt your beauty sleep. I needed to come home. Why? Do you miss me already?" Lacey jokes.

"Yes, I miss you already. Why did you have to go home?" Danny asks.

"Well, I have to do laundry and I have to pack for our trip. Did you forget about that?" Lacey asks.

"No, I didn't forget. I have to pack too. Can I come over your place?' Danny asks.

"Sure. My address is 2511 Barclay Way." Lacey says as she finishes sorting her laundry.

"I'll see you soon." Danny says and then hangs up.

Lacey smiled to herself thinking of Danny coming over. She got a little excited. Yeah, she was in love. She just threw her first load into a basket and headed downstairs to her washer/dryer right near her backdoor. She put that load in and decided to cook her and Danny breakfast. She wanted to get rid of things since she wouldn't be home for almost a week. She decided to make homemade French toast, eggs, and sausages. A little over an hour later, she heard her doorbell ringing. She felt giddy as she walked to her front door and opened it. She thought Danny looked so sexy standing on her doorstep. She could tell he washed his hair, but it was in a bun. He had on a Henley and jeans, and he looked good.

Lacey started to grin like a teenager whose boyfriend was coming over for the first time. Danny made her feel young again. "Hi Danny." Lacey says cheerfully like she didn't just spend the night with him.

"Hi Lacey." Danny says and smiles awkwardly. She was making him feel like an awkward teen again. He hasn't had a woman have this kind of affect on him before, but he liked it. Lacey let him in her house and he looked around. He really liked her place. He thought it was funny that she also had gray furniture in her house. She accentuated hers with a nice womanly light teal though. He looked around and saw that she had lots of pictures. There was a framed picture of her and a woman who looked a lot like her. Danny thought she was pretty, but he truly thought Lacey was prettier because of his feelings for her. He held up the picture. "Who's this?" Danny asks.

"My sister, Clara. She's 23." Lacey says. "I hope you didn't eat because I fixed us breakfast."

"No, I didn't eat. Thank you." Danny says as she leads him to her kitchen. He looked around again and really liked her house. He loved the light-colored cabinets in her kitchen with the stainless steel appliances with the gray and white backsplash. They sat down and started to enjoy their meal when Danny decided to broach the topic that has been on his mind. "Lacey, I have to tell you something." Danny says as he puts his fork down.

She does the same. "Ok."

Danny took her hand and Lacey got a little nervous. 'Lacey, I want you to be my girlfriend." Danny says as he gives her his patented smirk.

"Ok." Lacey says happily as she leans over to give Danny a hug and a kiss. "I will never hear the end of this from Whitney." Lacey says.

"Cole too. He knew we really liked each other." Danny says.

"I guess everybody else could see what we didn't." Lacey says in a jovial tone.

"Yeah." Danny says. He's happy although he has the nagging feeling that that's not all he needed to tell her. He never wanted Lacey to know his secret. He knew she wouldn't understand and wouldn't look at him the same. She had to think he really was a good guy at all costs.


	14. Chapter 14

**Author's Note: Hello everyone. First, I apologize profusely for this late update. I had a lot going on this week. I made this chapter a lot longer than they normally are to make up for it. I hope this update was worth the wait. I appreciate your patience. **

**Second, I know Danny and Lacey don't sing on the show, but I incorporated Avan and Kylie's talents in this story, since I picture them as Avan and Kylie in their everyday lives. **

**Third, I DO NOT own the lyrics to "Rocket" by Beyoncé. It was used for entertainment purposes only.**

**Fourth, Reviews are hugs. I thrive from them. They are a great boost to my writing, so I thank you for them.**

* * *

After Lacey and Danny had their breakfast, Lacey finished her laundry and they both retreated to her bedroom. She put her clothes away and also packed for their business trip. It was sort of a pain to pack for that long of a business trip. She needed four days worth of business attire. She stood inside of her closet and debated on what to pack. She wondered whether she should pack dresses or skirts. Pants suits or skirt suits. She knew they were going to Minnesota and West Virginia, but she didn't know what the weather would be like in either place. Lacey walked out of her closet to get her phone to search and see what their weather was during that time of year. Danny just laid on her bed and relaxed while watching a game. He looked up momentarily to see what Lacey was doing. He knew she needed to pack, but so far, she hasn't packed a thing. He knew packing was totally different for men than for women, but he found her actions to be quite comical since it only took him 10 minutes to pack.

"Lacey, what are you doing?" Danny asks.

"I'm checking to see what the weather is like in Minnesota and West Virginia before I pack. Why?" Lacey asks without looking up from her phone.

"I was just wondering why It was taking you so long to start packing, that's all. I packed in 10 minutes before I came over here." Danny replies.

Lacey looks up at him. "Yeah, and you only have to pack a few suits and underwear. I can't do that. You probably forgot something." Lacey says.

"You're right, but all you need is a few suits too. I hope you're not planning on bringing your whole closet with you. All I have is my suit bag and a carry on suitcase." Danny says in a joking tone.

"I need more than that. I need clothes to wear after we finish with our meetings. What if I want to explore the city? So you can just hush." Lacey says as she playfully sticks her tongue out at him and goes back to her phone.

Danny tried to pretend that Lacey sticking her tongue out at him didn't turn him on, but he would save that for later. Right now, he wanted her to hurry up and pack so that they could go out. He had somewhere he wanted to take her. Lacey then just got up and walked back into her closet, and came out carrying several suits and dresses that she put inside her garment bag. She then went back and got a few pair of jeans and some tees. After that she packed her underwear and toiletry. She was determined to not pack too much and have to hear Danny once again tease her about something. She was very proud of herself for not going overboard with her packing until she realized that she forgot shoes. Lacey was very picky and particular about her shoes. She had a pair of pumps to match everything. She had so many shoes in her closet, it looked like a shoe store. She just stood there and chewed on the side of her mouth. She didn't want to pack a suitcase with just shoes, because that would be going overboard. She was deeply questioning her dilemma while Danny just watched her, wondering what she was thinking.

"What's wrong now? You look like you're ready to go." Danny says as he breaks Lacey from her thought process.

"I forgot shoes." Lacey says quietly.

Danny just looked at her and was a little afraid to say something. He knows how some women are about their shoes. Plus, he doesn't want to piss Lacey off. He already knows how sassy she can get. "You can't just pack one pair?" Danny asks, though he's a little fearful of her answer.

"One pair? Are you serious?" Lacey replies in astonishment.

"Nope, I was just kidding." Danny counters.

Lacey ignored Danny and then got an idea of how to pack her shoes as she walked back into her closet. She got the shoes she would take on the trip, along with some small plastic bags she had in her closet. She packed her shoes in the bags individually, and spaced them throughout her suitcase. Problem solved.

"Ok, I'm done. Now, what's the plan? You still have to take me on a date. Remember?" Lacey questions cheerfully as she looks at Danny.

"Yes, I remember. Are you afraid of heights?" Danny questions.

"No, not really. Why?" Lacey asks quizzically.

"It's a surprise. Are you ready to go?" Danny asks as he starts to get off her bed.

"No. I haven't even showered yet. I'll be ready soon enough though." Lacey says as she starts to undress and goes into her bathroom. Danny was sure to sneak peeks at her undressing. He wanted to join her in the shower, but thought it would be better to just wait. They had plenty of time to fool around. He liked Lacey for more than just that anyway, and he wanted to show her that. While he initially just wanted to sleep with her, getting to know the different side of her since they started working on the project really made him want more with her.

Lacey finished in the bathroom and came out wearing just a towel. Danny tried not to look and wanted to look all in one. He decided to just lay back and enjoy the show. He had already forgotten about the basketball game he was watching anyway. Besides, a naked woman in front of him was much more important than a basketball game. He knows most men would agree with him. His penis started to twitch when Lacey removed her towel. He studied her intently as she reached into her dresser and pulled out a pair of panties. He felt his dick start to stiffen when she stepped into her panties. Though he would always say that her taking them off would be a thousand times better, watching her step into them was pretty arousing as well. He had to press down on his penis to calm it down. He then watched as she put her bra on. Just the fact that it was pink leopard print and it matched turned him on. He barely paid attention to her putting her socks on, because that wasn't hot. Danny watched as she walked into her closet and came back out wearing a black tee, blue jeans and black knee boots. She then walked back into her bathroom and fixed her hair. When she came back out and he saw that she had on a pink colored lipstick that made her pouty lips look sexier, he started to get aroused again. Something about Lacey's lips really turned him on. He got a little lost in thought thinking about her lips, when Lacey interrupted his partial wet dream.

"Danny? I'm ready to go." Lacey says as she smiles at him.

Danny had to give his dick a pep talk to calm the hell down. When that didn't work, he decided to think of something else that would turn him off. He thought of Lacey's asshole ex, Archie. That did it. "Ok. You look great." Danny says as he turns her tv off and gets off her bed. He tugs on the comforter to straighten it out and puts his boots back on.

"Thanks. So where are we going?" Lacey asks as they walk out of Lacey's bedroom and head for the stairs. Lacey walked down first with Danny following closely behind.

"We are going to do something fun and exciting so we can get to know each other better." Danny says as he takes her hand once they're in the living room.

"Ok. That sounds like a plan. It's not anything too crazy, is it?" Lacey asks as she lets Danny's hand go to put her jacket on.

"It could be considered crazy. If you really don't want to do it, I'll understand." Danny says.

"We're not going skydiving or bungee jumping are we? Because there is no way in this world I would do that." Lacey says honestly as she reaches for her front door to open it.

"No. We are not going skydiving or bungee jumping." Danny says as he pulls the door closed, and Lacey locks it.

She pauses for a moment. "Then why did you ask me if I'm afraid of heights?' Lacey questions.

"You will find out when we get there." Danny says as he grabs her hand again and pulls her toward his car.

"Ok Danny. I"ll be patient and wait." Lacey says as she smiles at him. They get into Danny's car and he drives for a bit. She sees the huge balloons as they are pulling up. She gets excited like a kid going to the circus. She always wanted to get on a hot air balloon, and now she's getting ready to. "How did you know I always wanted to try this?" Lacey asks in wonderment.

"I don't know. You seem to be pretty adventurous, so I thought I'd give it a shot. The worst you could have said is no. It really is a lot of fun though." Danny says as he parks his car.

"I'll bet it is." Lacey says as she gets out. Danny is bringing out the kid in her. They walk hand in hand to go over and sign up for their ride. Danny got them the private tour. Lacey was excited and scared at the same time when they took off. The view was breathtaking. Lacey took several pictures with her phone as they sailed over New York. They pretty much pretended that the man flying the balloon wasn't even there. He really didn't pay them any attention anyway, he was too busy focused on flying the balloon. Danny and Lacey pretty much molded their bodies together as they snuggled close in the basket. Once Lacey realized they were descending, she got a little disappointed. She had a really good time flying in the balloon with Danny. Once they were safely back on the ground, Lacey just pulled Danny into a hug. She was really, really starting to feel Danny. It was way too soon to say love, but she knew she would get there eventually. "I had a really great time. Thank you." Lacey says as her arms are still wrapped around Danny.

"You're welcome. I had a really great time too. I'm glad you enjoyed it. But we're not done yet. We're going out for ice cream." Danny says as he smiles and guides Lacey to his car.

"Ice cream? You're trying to make me fall in love with you, aren't you?" Lacey asks once they're settled in Danny's car.

"Of course I am." Danny says as he winks at her and pulls off.

* * *

Danny and Lacey made their way to the ice cream parlor and decided to take a stroll while eating their ice cream. They held hands like a truly in love couple. It was a nice day and they just enjoyed their ice cream and each other's company.

"What is your family like?" Danny asked as they continued to stroll.

"Well, I had a pretty good upbringing though my parents fought a lot. Me and Clara hated it and didn't understand why they fought so much. I was into horseback riding and my sister was into gymnastics. Our parents got divorced and my father moved to Seattle, so Clara and I didn't see him that much. Clara and I both became extremely close to our mother in the process. At my sisters' birthday party, she found our father and her gymnastics coach kissing in the pantry. So we found out my father is gay. It explained a lot. My mother was of course devastated because she realized her whole life as she knew it was a lie. She eventually got over it, but it hurt seeing her that hurt. Her and my father get along great now that he isn't hiding who he really is any more." Lacey says as she pauses and looks over at Danny.

Danny had a lump form in the back of his throat that was impossible to swallow. He hated hearing that Lacey's father kept a huge secret from her mother. The same thing he was trying to do. He knew it wasn't right, but he couldn't tell Lacey his secret. He vowed to make it go away though. He really didn't know what to say, he was too busy thinking of how to avoid hurting Lacey the same way. "Wow. That must've been a lot to take in. Was it really hard finding out the truth?" Danny asked cautiously.

"Yeah, it was. At first. I didn't understand how my dad was gay and married to my mom. I didn't understand how he was able to fake it with her all those years. And then everything made sense. They fought so much because they were both unhappy. My mother blamed herself because she thought she should have been able to tell. He hid it really well and he worked a lot. After they got divorced, the house just seemed so quiet because they weren't fighting anymore, even though he was rarely home. When he was there, they fought constantly. Me and Clara would take turns distracting each other. Everything is fine now though, even though I rarely see my father. I talk to my mom all the time. Clara and I are extremely close. She's my best friend. How about you?" Lacey asks as she takes the last few bites of her ice cream cone.

"Well, my father was never home either. But when he was, we would always play or watch soccer together. He was an alcoholic. I didn't realize that when I was younger, but he was. My mother pretty much numbed herself to his problems. My mother and I weren't very close until my father died. He was drunk and drove his car off a cliff. My mom and I are close now though, since she's finally happy. I'd like you to meet her." Danny says sincerely.

"I'm sorry to hear that about your dad. I would love to meet your mother." Lacey says in a sweet tone.

"Thanks. But it's ok. I had a lot of time to deal with it." Danny says as they continue to walk hand in hand.

"I'd like you to meet my mother too. You have to behave yourself though." Lacey says in a joking tone.

"I will. I'll be a boy scout." Danny says as he gives Lacey his world-famous smirk.

Lacey looks at him and raises her eyebrow. "You are not allowed to be a boy scout around my mother." Lacey says as she playfully nudges him.

"I guess you're right. I'm only a boy scout for you." Danny says as he leans over to kiss her on her cheek.

"Does that mean I get to be a girl scout around you?" Lacey asks in an animated tone.

"Yes. I'll help you earn special badges." Danny says as they continue to stroll along, hand in hand.

* * *

After Danny and Lacey continued their stroll, they came across a photo booth and took pictures. Lacey had to admit that it was one of the funnest, no pressure dates she had ever had. Danny thought so too. He felt like he was with the woman he could see a future with, minus his baggage. He didn't want to live a lie like he knew her father did with her mother, but he had to. He knew there was a way for her to never find out. Lacey wouldn't understand. The good thing was he had money. Money takes care of problems. If he had to spend a little money to never hurt Lacey and have her learn the truth, then he would do that. He had really developed a fondness for Lacey. He was thinking that he could truly fall in love with and love her. She was someone he really wanted to develop a deeper connection with. She had so much going for her, and they had so much chemistry, that it was hard for him to not want to be with her. After years of being physically attracted to her, but forcing himself to not like her because she didn't like him, to him working with her and finding out that they both were wrong about each other, to them acting on their physical attraction and ultimately becoming a couple, he realized that she was perfect for him. They both shared the same passion for work, they both were spontaneous and adventurous, they got and understood each other, and had the same sense of humor. Plus, it was easy being her friend. He didn't think he could ever just be her friend after this, but he considered her to be a great friend to him. The fact that she was absolutely gorgeous only helped in the matter. Add that to their sexual compatibility, and Lacey Porter was his dream girl.

He got lost in thought thinking of building and bonding with her as he drove back to her house. He didn't even realize that Lacey was trying to get his attention. Her calling his name somehow broke through and interrupted his thinking. "Huh?" Danny asked as he quickly took his eyes off the road to look over at her.

"Are you ok? You seem to be somewhere else." Lacey asks in concern.

"I was just thinking of our meetings and hoping they'll go smoothly. I hope they like the plans we are advising them on." Danny lies. He had thought about that, but that isn't what he was thinking about. He knows that he and Lacey did a good job on helping both companies. It really wasn't as hard as they originally thought it would be.

"Ok. I was thinking about that too. But really, our suggestion to the companies is a no brainer. They'd be foolish not to follow our advice." Lacey says.

"Right. Hopefully, we don't have to spend two days at both of their headquarters the way it's planned. I can think of other things I'd rather be doing than sitting in unnecessary meetings." Danny says as he tries not to smirk. His comment is laced with innuendo, but he doesn't want to draw attention to it.

Lacey takes the reigns and does it for him. "Would that be me that you'd rather be doing?" Lacey asks as she gives him a sexy smile.

Danny looks over at her and winks. "Yes. Among other things. I still need to get to know my new girlfriend better, don't you think?" Danny asks.

"Yes. I think we know the most important things we need to know though. Now, all we need to know is little things. That's easy to tackle and find out." Lacey counters.

"Right." Danny says as he tries to swallow the lump that has formed in his throat again.

She didn't know the most important thing about him. Despite Danny's cocky attitude and demeanor, having her find that out and be hurt by that hurt him. He had no intention of hurting Lacey. He had to make sure he didn't do that.

* * *

Lacey and Danny arrived back to her place, and spent more time getting to know each other better. The pretty much learned each other's likes and dislikes, wants, desires, future aspirations. They realized that they had more in common than they first thought. They liked the same foods, sports, movies. They had differences though like normal people do. Like Lacey loved animals, especially horses. Danny never really thought about it, but he really isn't an animal person. Lacey liked summer and could spend an entire day at the beach. Danny liked winter and would rather go snowboarding or skiing. They found out another thing they had in common by chance.

Lacey decided to fix dinner for them. She chose to prepare spaghetti because it would freeze well if they didn't finish it all since they were leaving town. Lacey was getting everything ready while Danny was watching a game in her living room. Danny decided to turn the game off and join her in the kitchen. Lacey turned on her iPod and started to sing along to the music. When her iPod shuffled to _Fire We Make, _a duet by Alicia Keys and Maxwell. Lacey started to sing along. Danny didn't know she could sing. He really shocked her when he started to sing along too. Lacey couldn't believe Danny could sing.

She stopped singing and looked up at him in surprise as she was chopping onions. "Surprised I can sing?" Danny asked with a mischievous grin on his face.

"Yes, I'm surprised. You sound great. I had no idea you could sing. Any other talents I don't know about?" Lacey asks.

"I can play the piano and the guitar." Danny says.

"Really? You have to play for me some time." Lacey says.

"It would be my pleasure. What about you? I didn't know you could sing either. Do you have any hidden talents that I don't know about?" Danny asks.

"I can draw and paint really well. I'll paint you a picture one day." Lacey says as she smiles.

"You have yourself a deal, Lacey." Danny says as he smiles back at her. He just sat and watched quietly as she made their dinner. He loved how she continued to sing and truly enjoyed cooking for them. She seemed to glide effortlessly through the kitchen. He fell a little bit more in love after he tasted the spaghetti. He already knew she could cook, because of the breakfast she cooked, but he really loved her spaghetti. He wasn't used to women cooking for him. They usually didn't care enough about him to cook for him. If he was being honest, he didn't cook for anyone either. He just spent his time in the bedroom with them. That was pretty much the gist and the basis of all his relationships with women. He would charm the pants off of them, take them out on a date or two, sleep with them, and that was it. Him saying he had a girlfriend felt pretty weird. Now he had one. He was falling in love.

They finished up their meal and went to relax on Lacey's sofa. Danny made the conscious decision that he wasn't going to have sex with Lacey that night. She was more than just a woman he wanted to bed. He was going through the motions with his feelings for Lacey. He never knew he could feel like this. He felt free. He would really feel weightless if he didn't have the heavy burden of his secret weighing on him. If he could go back in time, he would change it. He would make sure it didn't happen. But it did.

Lacey snuggled into Danny and put her head on his chest as he put his arms around her. The just found a movie that they both loved to end their evening. "How are you getting to the airport tomorrow?" Lacey asks casually.

"I guess I'm going to drive and just park there. There's no sense in both of us driving. I would get us a shuttle, but I don't want to deal with that when we come back. Is that ok with you?" Danny asks.

"Yes. Where are you sleeping tonight? No offense, but I kind of want to sleep in my own bed tonight. You're welcome to join me though." Lacey offers.

"No offense taken. I understand. I think we can function not sleeping at my place for a night, especially since we'll be sleeping in hotel beds for the next several nights." Danny says.

"I know. The good thing is we'll be sharing a room like you said we would." Lacey says as she slightly giggles.

"That's the best part." Danny says as he pulls he closer. "I told you you would be thinking about sharing a room with me when we went out of town." Danny says in victory.

"Yeah, yeah. You were right." Lacey says jokingly.

"I know I was. I have to leave to get my stuff soon, but I'll be back. There's a few things I need to take care of before I leave." Danny says.

"Yeah, me too. I have to ask my neighbor Sarita to keep an eye on things while I'm gone. But I'll ask her in the morning." Lacey says as she yawns. They had had a pretty full day, and she's starting to get a little tired.

"I have a pretty good security system for the building, so all I have to do is lock up and turn the elevator off. Easy peasy." Danny says. He has something else to do, but Lacey doesn't need to know that.

"We need to have sex in the elevator again when we get back." Lacey says as she kisses Danny on his neck.

"You're on." Danny says.

* * *

Danny left to go and do what he needed to do and Lacey retreated to her bedroom. Danny continued to have that aching feeling in his chest. He knew it was love, but also something else. His secret was nagging him. The sooner he took care of it, the better. He drove to his place and got his place ready for his impending absence. He also made the phone call he needed to make to start the ball rolling on the great cover up. Hopefully, most of it would be handled while he was out of town with Lacey. Then he could rest easy. He got all of his luggage, plus the reports they needed to take with them on the trip. They also had most of the presentation saved on power point so they wouldn't have to lug so much on the business trip with them. Danny locked up his condo and put his Porsche in his garage and got out his Range Rover. He didn't want to leave his Porsche parked in an airport parking lot for almost a week. He loved his Range Rover too, but his Porsche was his baby.

He packed up his truck and headed over to Lacey's. He already missed her. As he was driving to her place, he got a text from her that said:

_I left the door unlocked for you, so come right on in. _

Danny just smiled to himself and continued to drive to her house. When he got there, he quietly entered her house. He house was so dark and serene when he entered. He just made his way upstairs with his bag in tow. He entered Lacey's bedroom and saw that she had many candles lit. It seemed like she had a romantic evening planned. So much for him not wanting to have sex. There was no way in hell he was going to turn her down. They liked having sex with each other and there isn't anything either of them could do about it. He was glad that they both wanted to continue to having sex with each other. They were two healthy, consenting adults. They could have sex whenever they wanted to.

Danny didn't see Lacey, but he heard her say, "Take off all of your clothes and come into the bathroom." The lyrics to Beyoncé's _Rocket _played in the back ground.

_Let me sit this ass on you _

_Show you how I feel _

_Let me take this off _

_Will you watch me _

_Yes mass appeal _

_Don't take your eyes _

_Don't take your eyes off it _

_Watch it babe if you like _

_You can touch me baby _

_Do you, do you wanna touch me baby? _

_Grab ahold, don't let go _

Danny didn't waste any time dropping his bag and yanking his clothes off. He almost ran into her bathroom and found her in her huge tub. He instantly jumped in. He had never taken a bath with a woman before. When he climbed in, she turned on the jets, and instantly turned it into a Jacuzzi. She climbed over to him and sat in his lap. He was already aroused. They both listened as the song continued to play on her iPod.

_Let me know that you_ ready

I_ just wanna show you now _

_Slow it down, go around _

_You rock hard I rock steady _

_So rock right up to the side of my mountain _

_Climb until you reach my peak babe, my peak, the peak _

_And reach right into the bottom of my fountain _

_I wanna play in your deep end, your deep end, the deep _

_Then dip me under where you can feel my river flowing flow _

Lacey wrapped her arms around Danny's neck and kissed him deep on the lips. She took one of her hands and reached down to rub his already hard dick with her hand as he rubbed her back with his hands. He felt Lacey's hand slide down and grab his balls and start to rub them. She started to grind on him as the jets shot the water out at them. Them being in the water made everything seem hotter and wetter. Lacey took her hand and started to stroke his dick. It was already harder than she ever felt it before as it started to pulse in her hand. She stroked his shaft and rubbed the tip.

_Hold me 'til I scream for air to breathe _

_Don't wash me over until my well runs dry _

_Send all your sins all over me babe, over me  
_

_R__ock it 'til waterfalls _

_Rock it 'til waterfalls _

_Rock it 'til waterfalls _

_Bathe in these waterfalls  
_

_I do it like it's my profession _

_I gotta make a confession _

_I'm proud of all this space _

_Lemme put it in your face _

_By the way, if you need a personal trainer or a therapist_

_I can be a piece of sunshine, inner peace, entertainer _

_Anything else that you may read between the lines _

_You and I create Rockets and waterfalls  
_

Danny took his finger and slipped it inside of Lacey. He felt her walls tighten around his finger. He took his thumb and started to massage her clit. He massaged her clit and stroked her lips. He wanted to prolong it as long as he could. They didn't say a word to each other but they had eye sex as they kissed and extended their foreplay. Being in the bathtub was a huge turn on and Danny wondered why he never thought to try that before. He wanted to be inside of Lacey, but he also wanted to take his time.

_Hard rock steady rock hard rock steady _

_Rock hard rock steady rock hard rock steady _

_Don't you know that I give you the loving if you need it _

_I give you my word you can believe it _

_Your love feels like all four seasons growing inside me _

_Life has a reason swimming my love, your love lifting higher harder _

_Got me screaming to the lord, boy kiss me _

_Pray we don't overflow _

_Baby I know you can feel it pulse _

_Keeping the peak of my waterfall _

_Rock it baby, rock it baby 'til the water falls down damn_

Danny surprised Lacey by grabbing her by the waist and pulling her up. He sat her on the edge of the tub and placed his head between her legs. Lacey called out his name as she felt his tongue connect with every area between her legs. She felt him lick her lips before he licked and sucked on her clitoris. He then went down to suck on her swollen lips again. Hers thighs shook as he went back to sucking on her clitoris. It didn't take long for the orgasm to completely overtake her as she continued to shake. He again grabbed Lacey by her waist and pulled her back onto his lap. He took his penis and slowly slid it into her. He jerked from the tightness and wetness of her. Lacey started to tongue kiss Danny again as she started to ride him. The song was still playing in the background.

_And I can't help but love the way we make love Daddy_

_Daddy, ooh child, ooh now _

_Yes lord _

_D__amn baby _

_Driving me cray cray _

_You ain't right for doing that to me Daddy _

_Even though I've been a bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad girl _

_Tell me what you're gonna do about that _

_Punish me please _

_P__unish me please _

_Tell me what you're going to do with all of this ass _

_All up in your face _

_Yeah, hell yeah Ride it so deep _

_Ooh my shit's so good it ain't even right _

_I know I'm right _

_Hell yeah you the shit _

_That's why you're my equivalent _

_So sexy  
_

Lacey continued to ride him as Danny grabbed her ass and gave it a light smack. It stung a little because of the water and Lacey let out a little yelp. Danny shifted his body a little lower so that he could suck on her nipples. They were hard and waiting to be kissed. He nibbled on one and went to the other. He traveled from her nipples to her neck and started to suck on her spot. He felt her walls tighten around him again. They continued to listen to the music as they humped each other.

_We're so much more than pointless fixtures _

_Instagram pictures cause soon boy _

_Gonna rock that ching-ching-ching _

_Baby boomers _

_Sick little trends, tryna fit in _

_Home is where the heart is _

_Goddammit I'm comfortable in my skin _

_And you're comfortable in my skin _

_You look so comfortable in my skin _

_Rockets and waterfalls _

The song finished and went to another and they were still sexing. Danny thought the water would make him ejaculate faster, but it prolonged his erection. Maybe because the whole scenario was hot and turned him on immensely. He decided that they would have bathtub sex more often. Danny felt Lacey go stiff and start to slow her movements which made Danny increase his. He felt her walls tightened around his dick and felt her cum on him. He continued to pound into her until he felt the semen shoot out of him and into Lacey. He got completely caught up in having that kind of sex that he really wasn't satisfied. He needed a moment to recover, but definitely wanted to be inside of Lacey again. He pulled her off of him and sat her beside him. "Where did you get this idea from?" Danny asks as he tries to come down from his high.

"I don't know. I was just thinking that I have a Jacuzzi style tub, and I might as well make use of it." Lacey says as she leans over to kiss Danny again. "Did you like it?" Lacey asks as she climbs into his lap again.

"Absolutely. I've never had sex in a bathtub before." Danny says as she stares deep into her eyes.

"Good. Just like I had never had sex in an elevator before." Lacey says as she pushes some of Danny's hair behind his ear. "And you still owe me sex in the Porsche. The surprise you got the other night doesn't count." Lacey says.

"Oh, it counted. But I promise we'll have sex in the Porsche. We can have sex on the plane too." Danny says as he smirks at her.

"I'll think about it. As long as we don't get caught joining the mile high club." Lacey says.

Lacey felt that Danny was hard again. "Ok. Right now, we have to settle for bathtub sex." Danny says as he takes his penis to enter her

* * *

The next morning, Lacey and Danny got ready for their business trip. The checked and double checked to make sure they had everything they needed before they left. Their flight wasn't that early, but they knew how much of a headache catching a flight was. Lacey fixed them breakfast and they were on their way. Lacey took the handwritten note she had for her neighbor Sarita and placed it in her mailbox. Lacey was a little surprised to see Danny's Range Rover sitting in her driveway. She had no idea he had it. It of course seemed to suit him, but not as much as the Porsche. They drove to the airport and made their way to their first destination: Minneapolis, Minnesota. They didn't join the mile high club like they wanted to, but they knew they had plenty of time to fool around in the hotel. Once they got their baggage, they went to get the rental car their boss set up for them. They made their way to the Hyatt, and found out they were staying on the same floor. It didn't matter since they decided they would stay in the same room. Lacey kind of worried that their boss would find out one of them wasn't used. Danny promised to go into his room and make it look like he stayed there just in case.

They went over what they needed for their meeting the next day and did a little research on the company and found out where they were located before they had to head there the next day. They took a few hours to prepare and then they decided to explore Minneapolis. With Danny behind the wheel, they had no idea where they were going, but that was a good thing. They didn't have a destination in sight, they just wanted to have fun. They were already having fun just being together.

They rode past a place that had roller skating, arcade games, and bowling and they were letting their inner kid shine through again when they decided to try it out. Once they were inside, they immediately went into challenge mode. They made a bet that whomever won the most tickets had to make the loser do whatever they wanted. Lacey easily beat Danny, though he insisted he let her win. They then went to Red Robin for dinner. Once they were back at the hotel, Danny went to mess his room up and then returned to Lacey's. She was anxious to make good on their bet. She made Danny choose between cutting his hair or stand on the balcony naked, and sing.

Lacey recorded the whole thing.

The next morning, they got ready for their meeting at the Biometrics headquarters. Danny looked extremely dapper in his black suit and black and gray tie. Lacey wore a brown peplum dress and a fabulous pair of snake-skin print pumps. She and Danny got their documents and headed out. They really took charge of the meeting that went extremely well. They really took on Danny and Lacey's advice of selling the portion of the company that wasn't bringing in revenue and joining the branches that did to form one dynamic company. The presentation that went on for hours with a fabulous lunch break in the middle ended well. So well that there wasn't any need for them to return the next day. Danny and Lacey had to check in with their boss, Mr. Wheeler to let him know that they didn't need the second day of staying in Minneapolis at the Biometrics headquarters. Since their plane tickets were on an open basis, he arranged to have them go to West Virginia early to the Deputy Instruments headquarters.

He was deeply impressed with their tenacity. He had already gotten a call from their CEO that Danny and Lacey did a wonderful job and that they were taking their advice. They had to head back to their hotel and pack for a very early flight the next morning. They just packed and had room service because of how early they had to leave. They flew on an empty flight to West Virginia, and had a few hours to rest before they had an afternoon meeting with Deputy Instruments. This meeting didn't go as smoothly as the first and they had to stay in West Virginia and return to their headquarters the next morning. The next day provided a better outcome for the presentation and the company. They too took Danny and Lacey's advice.

After they got off the phone with their boss, he told them to fly on home and gave them Friday off for a job well done. Danny and Lacey spent the entire weekend together.

* * *

The following Monday, Danny and Lacey arrived to work together. They drove separate cars because Lacey stayed at her house that Sunday night. She and Danny decided they needed a break before they started to get on each other's nerves. They ironically arrived together though.

They were happy to see each other and Danny got a little turned on by the pink dress Lacey was wearing that cinched at her waist and really showed off her figure. Looking at Lacey, he knew for certain that he would always think she was beautiful. He kind of got a little territorial over how good she looked and he didn't want other guys ogling her. He put that thought out of his mind because he knew that she was pretty much coming home to him. They didn't live together, but they did spend a lot of time together. He knew she wasn't interested in another man and he wasn't interested in another woman. They fit like a glove. Just like that dress she was wearing.

They shared a quick kiss in the parking lot before they made their way into the building. They weren't hiding their relationship, but they weren't drawing attention to it either. "You look great." Danny says as he playfully grabbed her backside.

"Thanks. I wore this dress for you." Lacey says happily.

"So you'll be ok with me taking it off of you?" Danny asks as he pulls her closer.

"Um, let me think." Lacey says as she taps her chin with her finger. "Yes. I'll be ok with that." Lacey says as she pulls away from Danny and they start to walk toward the building.

"Good. It'll be weird with you not coming to my office everyday now." Danny says and playfully pouts.

"I know. But maybe that's a good thing. We don't want to start to annoy each other. Though you really do annoy me." Lacey says with a straight face.

"I know. You really, really annoy me." Danny says.

"Just annoy? You make me sick and I hate you." Lacey says as she hurries to walk ahead of Danny.

"Hey Porter." Danny calls as he playfully taps her on the shoulder. "I hate you too." Danny says before he opens the door for her and they enter the building.

* * *

Lacey and Danny stopped at Starbucks before they made their way up to their floor. They had to behave because there were several other people on the elevator with them. They casually said goodbye before they went their separate ways to their offices. Lacey made her way to hers, and it really felt like she hadn't been in her office for a long time. It had only been a week, but it seemed longer. She started to get settled, when Phoebe and Whitney entered her office together. They seemed really happy to see her.

"Lacey! We missed you." Phoebe says as she walks over to give Lacey a hug. She barely waited for Lacey to get up out of her chair before she started to hug her.

Whitney gave Lacey a hug too. "Yeah, we missed you. How was your trip?" Whitney asks once she released Lacey.

"Great. Our meetings went well. I'm glad to be back at work. It seems like I haven't been here in forever." Lacey says as she sits back down.

Whitney is eyeing her suspiciously. "Is there anything else you want to tell us?" Whitney asks as she goes to sit in one of the seats in front of Lacey's desk. Phoebe follows suit.

Lacey was expecting this. She decided that she will tell them about her and Danny. After she teases them and makes them wait for the information she knows they are dying to have. "Anything like what?" Lacey asks innocently.

Whitney rolls her eyes. "Like how it was when you went out of town with Danny. I'm dying to hear if something happened. Phoebe is too." Whitney says as she lightly taps Phoebe.

"I don't know what you want me to tell you guys. We just went out of town, made presentations and had meetings, and came back home." Lacey says.

"That's it? You went out of town with De-Dreamy and nothing happened?" Whitney asks.

"Yes, that's it. Why are you so surprised?" Lacey again asks in an astonished tone.

"Because you two have had eye sex since you started on that project together, and you had all the opportunity in the world to act on it, and you didn't?" Whitney asks incredulously.

Lacey tries to hide her amusement. "Do you hear this, Phoebe?" Lacey asks to prolong telling them.

Phoebe looks uncomfortable. "I'm sorry, Lacey. But I agree with Whitney." Phoebe says quietly.

"See? Even Phoebe thinks something happened. Why are you denying us the juicy details?" Whitney asks.

"You really need to get laid." Lacey jokes.

"You're right, I do. That's why I have to live vicariously through you." Whitney says.

Lacey gets up to close her office door. She comes back and sits down and doesn't say a word. She sits like that for a few minutes. Phoebe and Whitney look at each other and just hunch their shoulders. Lacey lets out a sigh. "Well, I guess I can tell you guys something, if you promise not to say anything." Lacey says to her buddies. She knows they both won't. Even Whitney who loves to involve herself into people's business. She's the only nosey gossip that can keep a secret. It's an oxymoron, but it's true.

"We promise." Whitney answers for the both of them.

"Danny and I are a couple now." Lacey says as she smiles. She then watches as Phoebe just puts her hand out and Whitney hands her money from her pocket. Neither one of them says a thing. "So, you guys made another bet?" Lacey asks.

"Yup. I told Phoebe that you two would just be sleeping together. She said you would be a couple by the time you came back. She won. Now tell us how the sex is." Whitney says.

"We haven't had sex yet. We're taking it slow." Lacey lies.

"Oh, come on!" Whitney says and Phoebe and Lacey both laugh.

"Ok, ok. It's great. And I promise both of you, if you try to find out how great it is behind my back, Clara and I will come after both of you." Lacey says as she chuckles. She knows they wouldn't do that to her.

"I would never do that. I want Cole. Besides, I don't want to get on Clara's bad side." Phoebe says honestly.

"Me neither. You know I prefer women. He's hot, and I can appreciate that, but the only thing I like about Danny is his hair." Whitney says as all three women laugh.

* * *

Danny and Cole had a similar conversation in Danny's office. Danny couldn't wait to share his good news with Cole.

Cole knocked on Danny's office door and entered as Danny waved him in. "Welcome back." Cole says.

"Thanks, man. It's good to be back." Danny says.

"So, how was your trip?" Cole asks as he sits in the chair across from Danny.

"It was great. We made good presentations to both companies. Mr. Wheeler said we did a good job. I even got a girlfriend out of the project, so I have no complaints." Danny says as he smiles.

"You and Lacey are a couple now?" Cole asks. He isn't that surprised, to be honest.

"Yes, we're a couple now. It doesn't even feel weird saying I have a girlfriend." Danny says.

"So you got rid of all the women in your life?" Cole asks.

"Yeah. I haven't been with another woman since the day we started on our project together." Danny admits truthfully.

"What about the one you had the disastrous night with?" Cole questions.

"That was Lacey. I really thought I blew it with her that night, but I made up for it." Danny says.

"I'll bet." Cole says and they both laugh. "It's amazing to see that you two are together now after years of hating each other. They should have put you two on a project together years ago." Cole counters.

"Yes, they should have. The hate turned to love." Danny says, though he really didn't mean to say that. Maybe the slip of the tongue, was the truth.

"Love? Wow." Cole says. He is surprised to hear Danny say that.

"I really didn't mean to say love, but I guess I do love her. Lacey is awesome." Danny admits.

"I know she's awesome. I guess if any woman can get you to use the love word, it has to be Lacey Porter. I'm happy for you." Cole says honestly.

"Thanks. I'm happy for me too." Danny says.

* * *

The following month, Lacey took Danny to meet her mother and Clara. Lacey knew it was pretty soon to introduce him to her family, but she wanted the most important people in her life to meet. She and Danny were going strong, and she wanted to put a face to a name. She told her mother and her sister all about Danny. Clara was glad she got rid of Archie after Lacey told her what he did. Clara was also glad that Danny kicked his ass, because she wanted to do it too. Clara was very protective of her sister, even if she was the youngest. She and Lacey grew up extremely close, so them remaining close-knit and the best of friends wasn't unusual. They were sisters, best friends, confidants, and soul mates. Judy loved how close her daughters were. She heard stories from her friends with more than one child and how they fought like enemies. Lacey and Clara never had any full on battles. They had minor spats and feuds that ended just as soon as they started.

Clara still lived at home with Judy because she was still in college. Clara decided that campus life really wasn't for her after one semester at Syracuse. There was too much partying going on that she herself fell victim to. That's why she didn't graduate on time. So she decided to move back home. She had a better surrounding to study in. Plus, she got home cooked meals, free room and board, and laundry access. She hated the drive, but the benefits outweighed the shortcomings. She would take it any day. Judy still had her job in Real Estate, but she loved having Clara around the house during her slow times. She wanted a man to share her life with, but quality men her age were already taken.

Lacey made the drive to her mother's house. Danny was pretty nervous. He wasn't used to women taking him to meet their parents. They decided they would also go and visit Karen after his meeting with Judy and Clara. He wanted Karen to get to know the woman he loved. He knew Karen would love her, so he wasn't at all worried about that. He knew they would get along fine.

Lacey pulled up in front of her mother's house and turned the car off. She looked over at Danny and smiled. "Nervous?" Lacey asks.

"Yes." Danny answers.

"Well, don't be. It's just a meeting. My mom and sister are great. Clara is a little outspoken, but I think you'll like her. If she doesn't like you, you'll know." Lacey says.

"Thanks." Danny says as he smiles nervously.

They get out of the car and head up the walkway. Lacey takes his hand and lets them in with her key. They smelled the food as soon as she opened the door. She found Clara and Judy in the kitchen. "We're here." Lacey says as she leads Danny over to the table where Clara is sitting. Judy is at the stove frying chicken.

Clara stood up and walked over to hug Lacey and Danny. "Mom and Clara, this is Danny. Danny, my mom and Clara.

"It's nice to meet you." Clara says as she smiles, looking like Lacey. Her dimple was on the opposite side. Judy had two and each of her daughters inherited one.

"Nice to meet you too." Danny says as he smiles back at his girlfriend's sister.

Judy washed her hands and walked over to both of them and gave them a hug. "Hello, sweethearts." Judy says. "I hope you're both hungry."

"We are. We didn't eat breakfast because I knew you were cooking." Lacey says.

They all sat at the table. Clara was eyeing Danny.

"Do you have a brother?" Clara asks casually.

Danny smiles. "No. Only child." Danny says.

"Damn." Clara says and they all laugh. "You have good taste, Sister."

"Thanks, Sister." Lacey says as she smiles.

Judy went back to cooking, while Lacey, Clara and Danny chatted. They then ate the feast Judy prepared of fried chicken, mac-n-cheese. collard greens and cornbread. She even baked a chocolate cake. Danny fell in love because he had never had food like that before. He found out where Lacey got her cooking skills. The foursome all enjoyed their meal, until they had their family fun time. They played cards and board games. Things got pretty heated when they played Monopoly, but all in good fun. Clara and Judy pulled Lacey aside and told her how much they liked Danny. He really liked them as well. They spent so much time together, it was too late for them to go out to Karen's house. Danny called his mother to apologize, and to tell her that they would have lunch the next day. They were having too much fun to interrupt it.

When they left Judy's and drove to Lacey's house that evening, Lacey was thinking about the surprise she had in store for Danny for being on his best behavior. He had no idea she had it planned. They walked into the house and Lacey just took Danny by the hand and lead him upstairs to her bedroom. She instructed him to undress and then lead him to her bathroom where they took a shower together. When they were finished Lacey says, "Get in the bed. I have a surprise for you." Lacey says.

Danny got excited. "A surprise for me?" Danny asks in surprise.

"Yes. I'll be right back." Lacey says as she walks into her closet. She comes out moments later wearing a naughty girl scout outfit. Danny's eyes grew huge. Lacey watched as his dick just stiffened in anticipation. "Since you were on your best behavior, I'm going to be on my best girl scout behavior. What badge are you going to help me earn?" Lacey asks as she gets on the bed and crawls toward Danny seductively.

"Well, right off the bat you get, Sexy, Naughty, Adventure, and Creative. When we finish you will earn Pleasure, Screaming, and Satisfying. Probably an Orgasm badge too." Danny says as he pulls her closer to him and gives her a deep kiss. He couldn't believe Lacey went to that length to surprise him.

After the kiss, Danny went into attack mode. He raised up and rolled them over so that he was on top of Lacey. He opened her legs and almost lost his mind when he saw the green crotchless panties. Just for that, he loved the naughty girl scout outfit even more. It meant he didn't have to take it off of her right away.

He slid back some and grabbed Lacey's ankles and put them both on his shoulders. He slowly entered her and it felt just like the first time he entered her. He pounded into her at varying speeds that caught Lacey off guard. Once she got used to one rhythm, he changed it up. It caused her vagina to pulse. He was making her scream as he hit all the right spots.

He then surprised her by turning her on her side and entering her from an angle. He sped up his movements and it felt like he was hitting her clitoris and her g-spot at the same time. Danny pumped into her until she saw stars. Lacey squeezed her vaginal muscles tighter around Danny with each thrust he gave. He let out the grunt that Lacey was accustomed to now that she knew Danny inside and out. He exploded and they climaxed together.

Danny took his penis out of her and started to stroke it with one hand while he turned Lacey over. He used his hands to pull her ass closer to him. Lacey let out a sharp breath as he entered her from behind. Lacey was grabbing the sheets from his powerful thrusts. She saw stars again as he grabbed her by her waist and rolled them over. Lacey immediately started to ride him in reverse. Danny reached around to play with her clit while she rode him. Powerful orgasms took over both of them. Lacey climbed from on top of Danny to lay beside him. They were both trying to catch their breath.

Lacey looked over at Danny. "Did I earn my badges?" Lacey asks playfully.

Danny lightly chuckled. "Yes. But you have a few more I want to give you." Danny says. Danny turned serious for a moment. He stared Lacey deep in her eyes. "I love you, Lacey." Danny says with honesty and sincerity.

Lacey blushed a little. "I love you, Danny." Lacey moved over to be closer to him. "I kind of like our 'I hate you' thing more though." Lacey admits.

Danny kissed her on her forehead. "I hate you. Now it's time for us to finish earning our badges." Danny says as he pulls Lacey on top of him

* * *

The next day, Danny drove Lacey to Karen's house so that she could meet her. He had no doubt that the meeting would go well. He had already told Karen what she couldn't discuss because Lacey didn't know. Karen really didn't care, she was just happy to see that her son was happy. He talked to her about Lacey on the phone, so she already knew how things were. Lacey was of course nervous, but she tried to put it in the back of her mind. Meeting Danny's mother was a big deal, but it wasn't anything for her to worry herself with anxiety about.

Danny pulled up in front of the huge house that seemed bigger to him. Probably because he hadn't really visited in a while. He had spent all of his free time with Lacey lately. They were still in the beginning stage of their relationship, so spending a lot of time together was normal. Plus he really enjoyed her company.

"Are you ready, Lacey?" Danny asks before they get out of his car.

"Yes. Just a little nervous, but not too much." Lacey answers honestly.

"Good. Because you have nothing to worry about. You two are going to get along just fine. I'm sure of it." Danny says as he smiles at her to ease her nervousness.

"Ok. Let's go in." Lacey says as they both get out of the car and walk up to the front door. Karen opened it before they were even close to it.

"Danny! Lacey! I'm happy that you two are here." Karen says in an excited tone. She was thrilled to have visitors since she's always in that huge house by herself. She gives Danny a hug and then gives Lacey one. "It's so nice to meet you, Lacey. I've heard a lot about you. You're even prettier than Danny described." Karen says in a jovial tone.

"It's nice to meet you too. I've heard a lot about you as well. And you're prettier than the picture Danny showed me of you." Lacey replies. Danny doesn't look a thing like Karen, but he does have great hair just like her.

"That is so sweet of you to say." Karen says as she beams. They all but forgot about Danny as the exchanged greetings.

"Hey. Remember me?" Danny asks in a joking manner.

"Don't try to interrupt our moment, Danny." Karen says as she ushers them into the house. They all went into the living room and just chatted. Karen and Lacey really did hit it off, just like Danny said they would. Karen served them the lunch she went out and bought. Karen knew she wasn't that great of a cook. It didn't bother her much because she had other talents.

When Danny got up and excused himself to go to the restroom, Karen said something to Lacey that she wasn't expecting.

"I want a few grandkids before I get too old to play with them. There's already a swing set out back for them." Karen says before she takes a sip of her wine. Her mouth formed into a smile as she took in Lacey's reaction to her statement.

Lacey really didn't know what to say to that. She just took that as a sign that Karen liked her and saw her in Danny's life in the near future.

* * *

A little over a month had passed and Danny and Lacey were each totally in love and progressing their relationship. They spent an insane amount of time together. Lacey still had her house and Danny still had his condo, though it looked like they both had partially moved in with each other. They both had lots of stuff at each other's places. One Wednesday evening, they were just at Danny's condo cooking dinner together. They sometimes went out during the week, but they thought it would be fun to cook together.

Danny had his hands occupied while he stirred the rice and flipped the salmon burgers when the front door buzzed. He wasn't expecting company, so he wondered who it was. "Could you get that?" He says to Lacey.

"Sure." Lacey says before she walks over to the elevator to unlock it and buzz the person in. She didn't recognize the pretty, strawberry blonde that stepped off the elevator. She looked back at Danny who was standing in the kitchen, frozen in place. The color drained from his face and Lacey wondered why he looked like he had seen a ghost. He came out of his trance and started to walk towards the living room.

Lacey didn't know what the hell was going on, so she decided to introduce herself. "Hi. I'm Lacey, Danny's girlfriend." Lacey says in a nice tone as she extends her hand to the woman.

She smiled and extended her hand as well. "Hi. I'm Regina. Danny's wife." Regina says in a slightly sarcastic tone.

Lacey pulled her hand away and looked over at Danny. She looked at Regina and the sweet smile she had on her face. Lacey then looked back over at Danny. The look on his face said it all. And it hurt Lacey more than the feeling of a freight train crashing into her.

* * *

**Another author's note: Please excuse any typos. I will correct them once I have a mental break. If there are any that are huge, please message me and point them out. Sometimes I miss a few when I'm proofreading. **


	15. Chapter 15

**Author's Note: Hello everyone! I wanted to get this update posted a lot sooner than this, but I had a lot to do. I made it my mission to have it posted before the weekend was done. I thought I was getting a little carried away, and I had to take a step back. Thank you to all the people that sent me so many messages, asking for the update.**

**I'd also like to thank all the salty shade masters on tumblr. You know who you are and I see you. I'm not going to call you haters, because that word gets used too loosely. I never thought I would get this much shade and drama thrown my way over some fanfics. It is what it is though. I'm sorry that my fans won't allow me to pass the torch. Pat yourselves on the back because you guys make me want to improve my craft even more. **

**Things written in italics are flashbacks. I hope it isn't confusing. Let me know if it is.**

**I DO NOT own the lyrics to "I Don't Wanna Cry" by Mariah Carey, "All Cried Out" by Lisa Lisa and the Cult Jam, or "Try Sleeping With A Broken Heart" by Alicia Keys. Those lyrics were used for entertainment purposes only.**

**I hope you enjoy. Reviews are hugs! :)**

* * *

Lacey continued to stare at Danny and the grave look he had on his face. She really thought that she was hearing things. _Did this woman just say that she's Danny's wife? How in the hell does he have a wife? How can he have a wife when I'm his girlfriend? _Lacey was extremely hurt and confused. But she needed to get out of Danny's condo and far, far away from him. Lacey didn't want any explanations or for anyone to interrupt her getting the hell out of there. She ignored the sound of the smoke detector going off and the smoke that was in the kitchen from the forgotten food on the stove. She did hear him throw the pans in the sink and turn the water on. She just walked into Danny's bedroom with a mission on her mind. She was far too upset to realize that Danny had followed her. She was completely blanking him out. She refused to look at him or listen to anything he had to say.

"Lacey, wait. I can explain. Just calm down and let me explain." Danny pleads and gets nothing in return. He watched as she snatched off his tee-shirt and sweat pants and just dropped them into a pile on the floor. She wanted his clothes off of her body and she wanted to be away from him immediately. She didn't even want him looking at her just standing in his bedroom in her panties. It felt wrong for her to be that naked in front of him when he has a damn wife.

Lacey was suddenly mad at herself for having so much of her stuff at his place, but she didn't have the time to go around and collect it all. She would have to take it as a loss. She put her clothes and her shoes on faster than Clark Kent removed his suit in a phone booth to turn into Superman.

Danny grabbed Lacey by her shoulders to stop her. "Lacey, please stop. We need to discuss this. Could you please just listen to me?" Danny pleads again to no avail.

Lacey forcefully removed his hands from her body and grabbed her briefcase and purse and was out of his room and walking towards the elevator in record speed. She tried but failed to not notice _Regina, Danny's wife _sitting on Danny's sofa like she was waiting for something. She said nothing, she just watched the exchange between Danny and Lacey like it was a spectator sport. Lacey pressed the elevator button and nothing happened and that really, REALLY made her angry. She figured he must have turned it off to keep her from leaving like he did that one time before. Only this time, it wasn't funny and she wasn't nowhere near in the mood to play games with Danny. She turned to look at him. She mustered up the strength to ask him to turn it on so she could leave. " Turn the elevator on and let me out of here." Lacey says while avoiding eye contact with him.

"Not until we talk and you let me explain." Danny says in a desperate tone.

He has nothing to explain. She already understands. He's married and he didn't tell her. Case closed. Lacey closes her eyes and says a silent prayer before she speaks. "There's nothing to explain. Now let me out of here, please." Lacey says in the calmest voice she has.

"I can't just let you leave, Lacey. We need to talk. You need to let me explain." Danny says.

Lacey's rage takes over. "YOU NEED TO LET ME THE HELL OUT OF HERE!" Lacey screams at the top of her lungs. She says it in a tone so harsh, it makes Danny jump. He reluctantly unlocks the elevator and she disappears inside of it and is gone.

Danny leans towards the wall and presses his forehead against it. He curses profusely as he balls up his fist and pounds his fist against the wall. Danny faced the agonizing choice of following Lacey or confronting Regina. He thought which one would have the better result. He really didn't want to leave Regina alone in his place. There's no telling what she might do. He made the conscious decision to let Lacey leave and not follow her, to let her calm down. From the way she just shouted at him to unlock the elevator, he knew that she was beyond mad and it made him feel uneasy. He already knew how feisty Lacey could get, but he had never seen anything like that. Even during her years of hating him. The look on her face was anger, hurt, and confusion and he hated that. He had to put Lacey out of his mind and focus on the matter at hand. He slowly turned around and finally really looked at Regina. The look on her face was enough to make Danny kill her. His rationality was gone with one look at her. He was angrier than Lacey was. "Why did you come here?" Danny asks harshly as the beating of his heart changed dramatically.

_Oh, he's upset. _Regina thought. _This is like stealing candy from a baby. _Regina puts on her biggest smile and crossed her legs. "I had to see the reason you finally wanted to end our marriage." Regina says smugly.

Danny looked at her with fury in his eyes and just utter disgust in how she came in and completely screwed him over.

* * *

Lacey left Danny's condo and got into her car. She sped off so quickly, her tires screeched. She had a thousand different options, thoughts, and emotions running through her mind. _How in the hell can Danny be married? How is that even possible? How was he able to hide a wife? _Even though they had just gotten together, they have known each other and worked together for years. She had no idea he was married. She doesn't think anybody did. Not even Whitney who knows everything about everybody. It was hard for her to picture a guy like Danny married. Lacey had always considered him a man whore that slept with everything with a pulse, until she got to know him. All of the rumors about him floating through the building weren't true. He was a huge cocky flirt, but that's it. As far as she knew, she was the only woman he slept with in that building. But now that she thinks about it, maybe that's just not the truth. Maybe he really was the walking erection that she thought he was.

Lacey continued to drive and she knew for a fact that she was not going to go home. Danny would come there. She wasn't going to her mother's house either. She had a feeling he would come there too. And she didn't want to discuss this with her mom and sister. She knew they would support her and wipe her tears, but she wasn't ready to face them. Especially Clara. She would be ready to fight Danny and Regina.

Lacey thought about her options. Where could she go? She could go to Phoebe's or Whitney's. Then she realized that she didn't want them in her business. If they didn't work with her and Danny, she would go to one of them and ask to stay for a while. She didn't want to put her friends Tammy and Sonia out. They were both married with kids. She hated that she couldn't go to her own house and cry in peace. She just knew Danny would come to her house and try to explain. She didn't want to see his face or hear a damn thing he had to say.

Lacey finally came to the realization that she would have to stay in a hotel. At least she knew no one would know she was there, and she would be left alone. _What about work? _Lacey thought. Hiding in a hotel room seemed counterproductive if she was going to go to work and face Danny. Lacey decided that she would take a few sick days. She was due for them. Plus, she didn't have anything important going on at work. She would start her weekend early. She was glad that the next day was Thursday. That gave her four days to get things together. Four days to think. Four days to figure out how she would face this asshole at work. She was so mad at herself for ever getting involved with a coworker. She knew better. Now she had to deal with the aftermath of a relationship gone wrong.

She felt like an absolute moron for ever getting involved with Danny in the first place. He played her for a fool from the very beginning. She knew he was an asshole, and she got with him anyway. She felt like an idiot. She loved him. She really did. And he lied to her and hurt her. First Archie, now him. Lacey started thinking that she might be the problem. She knew for certain that she was done with men and relationships for a while. She was inherently tired of men using her heart, her emotions, and her body for a playground.

Lacey drove until she reached the Hilton. She was glad she had enough sense to remember to bring her purse because she would be up the creek without a paddle. Then she would have to go home. She knew he would come to her house. Hopefully, he knocked loud enough to disturb Sarita. She would not be pleased with that and would either tell him off or call the cops. Lacey was ok with either scenario. To hell with Danny.

Lacey parked her car and went into the main entrance and booked herself a room. She would have to check out by Sunday. She had nothing but the clothes on her back. But she would be ok for the night. She would wait until the morning and confirm that Danny went to work, and then she would go home and get her things. She was hiding from him and their relationship was officially over.

She went to her room and immediately crashed on the bed. The first tears fell before her head even hit the pillow.

* * *

Danny continued to look at Regina with pure hate in his heart for her. He doesn't think he hates another human being more than he hates her.

"All you had to do was sign the damn papers. You didn't have to come here and ruin everything. Why would you do that?" Danny asks as he tries to calm himself.

Regina chuckles. "It is not my problem that things are ruined for you now." Regina says.

Danny just stares at her. "You should consider my problem, your problem. Being happy that you ruined things or me isn't good for you." Danny says.

"Why shouldn't I be happy? Since I got those papers from you stating that you wanted to declare our marriage as a voidable marriage, I felt that it was within my right as your _wife _to come and discuss things with you. Plus I figured that the reason you finally contacted me was because of a woman, and I see that I'm right." Regina again says in a smug tone.

"You keep saying marriage and calling yourself my wife like we had a real marriage. You know we didn't . And now you've ruined things for me with the woman I really want to make my wife." Danny says as he rubs his head in disbelief.

"I'm sorry I ruined things with your _girlfriend. _Lacey, is it? She is very pretty, I'll give you that. I'm pretty sure you can find another one where you found her. She's probably only with you for your money anyway." Regina says smartly.

He just looked at Regina and the smug look on her face, knowing she screwed him over. She had been screwing him over since the day he met her. Danny let his anger take over and he walks toward Regina. The look on his face frightens her and she jumps from the couch to get away from him. She has never seen him this angry before, even when he found out the truth. She was afraid. Very afraid.

Danny backed her up into the wall. He wasn't going to hit her, because he would never, ever, hit a woman. Not even her. "Don't you ever fucking say Lacey's name again. Do you hear me?" Danny sneers. He saw how afraid she was at the way her breathing sped up. He loved that he put that amount of fear into her.

"Yes." Regina manages to get out as she tries to hide her fear but it is much too late for that. Maybe coming there wasn't a good idea at all. There is no maybe in it. She should not have come there. She thought after all those years, it was safe for her to return.

Danny tried to control his anger and think back to when he had different feelings towards her before he went too far. At one point in his life, he loved Regina. He thought she was a great girl. She didn't come on too strong, and he really thought that she loved him. He had no idea at the time that it was all a ploy by his cunning and deadbeat father...

_Danny looked up to his father like he was a super hero when he was younger. Even when he was a drunk and talking crazy. He just thought it was the booze. His father was worse than even he imagined. Karen knew what he was capable of, but she never expected him to be out to hurt his own son. Vikram only cared about himself, his many women, and money. Vikram got himself involved into some things he really wasn't ready for. He soon figured out the only way to get out was to die or disappear. He had no intentions of dying. Vikram tried and tried and thought of a way to get enough money so that he could disappear. He then remembered their life insurance policies. He could get rid of Karen, and get the money. But he actually thought that it would look too suspicious if his wife died, and then he disappeared. That's the only thing that saved Karen. Then he finally decided that he would be the one to die, leaving Danny the life insurance. It would make him look good that he left that kind of money to his son. Then he had another idea. He even thought about killing Danny himself, but then he decided that Karen would probably get the money, and not him. He would be "dead" after all. So when he was devising his plan, he met up with the young, strawberry blonde beauty, he figured out a way to get the money that he was willing to die for. The bastard actually faked his own death for the life insurance policy that he left in Danny's name. That's how they got there._

_While he was still married to Karen, and still screwing most of the women in Green Grove, he started screwing Regina too. The fact that she was his son's age was irrelevant to him. She was over eighteen, so it didn't matter. It also didn't matter that she would be screwing his son also. He cared nothing about Regina. He barely cared about Karen and Danny. He charmed and manipulated Regina into helping him with his plan. He told Regina everything to say and to do to seduce Danny. No virile young man could resist her charms. Regina was a bombshell, and Vikram knew Danny wouldn't be able to resist her. And he was right. Regina had Danny wrapped around her finger in no time. She was there to help Danny mourn the loss of his father when he was an older teenager. She made him believe that she didn't care about his money, just him. Regina made Danny feel like he was the most important guy in the world. And truth be told, Regina probably would have liked Danny under normal circumstances. But Danny was young and not as sure of himself as his father was. Vikram was hot and sexy to her, and she would do anything he asked. Including seducing his son. It meant nothing to her. She was in it to please Vikram and to get her cut. Regina had no idea just how cunning, manipulative, and dangerous he really was. Regina thought she was just playing a game, but the game really played her. Vikram had no intentions of giving Regina anything. He was going to take that money and really disappear. People already thought he was dead anyway. Regina truly trusted Vikram at his word. Why she thought that a man willing to screw over his own son would be worthy of trusting and being honest to her is unknown. She would find that out the hard way when he disappeared on her too. _

_Vikram didn't know that the people he was hiding from and faked his death for were on to him and watching his every move. He underestimated the people he was dealing with. He really thought he would get away with it. That is until Danny started to get suspicious of Regina's actions and followed her one day. He couldn't believe his eyes or his ears when he saw Regina meet up with his "dead" father._

_Vikram cut right to the chase. "I didn't ask you to seduce my son so that you could get your rocks off." Vikram says in a snide tone. _

_"I know you didn't. If there's any consolation, I prefer you because you're more experienced. Though your son did inherit more than your looks." Regina says as she stokes his crotch. _

_"What is taking so long then, Regina?" Vikram asked impatiently. Her stroking his crotch did nothing for him at that moment. _

_"I'm handling it, Vikram. It will look suspicious if my new husband just up and dies after I take out a huge life insurance policy on him and he changes his will. You're going to have to be patient. We'll get our money." Regina says as she continues to stroke his crotch. Vikram pulled her closer and they started kissing. Seeing his wife kissing his father and stroking his crotch after hearing them talk about him, made something snap inside Danny._

_Things made sense to Danny now. His "chance" meeting of Regina at the track at college. Danny was an avid soccer player and enthusiast. Vikram was good for one thing, teaching Danny to play soccer. Danny was an awesome soccer player as a winger and a sweeper. He was running around the track when Regina just fell in step with him. He immediately thought she was pretty. She struck up a conversation with him and actually asked him out. They had so much in common, and her love for soccer bonded them as well. Danny thought he had found the perfect girl. He was nineteen and horny. It was hard to not think of Regina as perfect when his penis was inside of her. When his father died, she was there for him. She was a dedicated and devoted girlfriend to him during that time. She didn't even bat an eyelash when he inherited millions from Vikram's life insurance policy. But that was all a part of the plan. Danny decided he wanted to marry Regina for being so loyal to him. Karen was furious and thought he was making a mistake getting married so young. When Danny mentioned to her that she and his father got married young, she couldn't object. She strongly recommended that he get a Prenuptial Agreement. Danny thought Karen was being ridiculous because Regina was there for him and loved him before he got rich. He never even thought to get one, but lied and told Karen that they did. _

_Regina really laid it on extra thick not wanting to have a big wedding. She just wanted something simple for their close family and friends. Regina didn't have any family, from what she told Danny. Her father split when she was a child, and her mother died from complications of Type 1 diabetes. She was an only child. She moved away for college, because there was nothing holding her back. Again, all part of the plan._

_They started their life as a young, married couple in college. Regina was a truly devoted wife and was Danny's biggest cheerleader at soccer games. Regina didn't cook, but she really played her role. That didn't matter to Danny because he was used to Karen not cooking. Girls all throughout the campus wanted Danny. Most of them didn't care that he had a wife. Who really has a wife at nineteen that he doesn't cheat on? Nobody took that marriage seriously. Regina pretended to. And then somewhere along the lines, things started to change. Regina stopped caring about school, and she just started disappearing all the time. Her actions didn't make sense to Danny and he wanted to get to the bottom of things. So he followed her. And got the shock and surprise of his life when he saw her meet up with Vikram. Danny was naturally hurt, but he didn't want Regina to know that he was on to her. He stopped being sad about his father "dying" and mourning his death. He discreetly cancelled the life insurance policy Regina had on him. He made sure that if anything happened to him, Karen would get it all. And then Danny just became cold towards Regina. He started sleeping around. Danny started sleeping with all of the women at college that wanted him. Some wanted money, but Danny wasn't falling for that. He used other women to numb the pain. He vowed never to let another woman get close to him. Eventually, the feelings he had for her went away. He started to just treat women as objects to satisfy his needs. He turned into this cocky, confident ladies man. Regina sure enough didn't understand what had gotten in to Danny. She really didn't care, she just wondered what the deal was. She had no idea he knew the truth until she confronted him one night. She came home one evening from god knows where. She really played the role of the hurt wife whose husband was cheating on her. _

_Danny was just sitting on the couch, watching a football game when Regina decided it was time to talk. "I want a divorce, Danny. I'm tired of you cheating on me!" Regina says as she fake sobs._

_Danny is unmoved. He took a sip of his beer. "You do?" Danny calmly asked._

_"Yes, I do. I'm tired of you making a fool out of me by sleeping with everything that walks. I don't deserve this." Regina says and cries some more._

_"Well, Regina. Then I think you should leave if you want a divorce. It's not like our marriage is real any way." Danny says without emotion. _

_"What?" Regina asks incredulously. _

_"You're only in it for the money. Right, Regina?" Danny asks casually as he looks at the expression that has appeared on Regina's face._

_Regina feigns ignorance. "What are you talking about, Danny?" Regina asks. _

_"I'm talking about you being involved with my father to get my money." Danny says._

_Regina looks flustered and can't believe he knows. "How did you..." Regina starts but can't finish._

_"How did I know?" Danny asks as he laughs heartily. "I followed you. My father sure looks good for a dead man." Danny says._

_There really isn't much Regina can say because her cover is blown. But she remembers her rights. "You do realize that we don't have a prenup, right?" Regina asks as she folds her arms across her chest and smirks at him._

_"Yes, I know that. But you can't get half of nothing." Danny says surely._

_"What do you mean, nothing? You have millions. And I will get half of that." Regina says smartly._

_"Check our account. Go ahead." Danny says as he waits for her to do just that. _

_When she sees that the account only has $5 in it to keep it open, she's livid. "How were you able to do that without my consent? They said we both had to sign for large withdrawals." Regina retorts._

_"You'd be surprised how far $1,000 can go. Broke college students will do just about anything. I just found your look-alike and we took a trip to the bank." Danny says smugly._

_"Oh my god." Regina says._

_"You can leave now. I'll let you pack your bags. It's the least I can do. Tell my father I said hello." Danny says as he goes back to watching the game._

_"You're not going to get away with this! I'll hire a lawyer, and get what's rightfully mine." Regina says._

_"Good luck with that with no money. Finding my money won't be as easy as you think it will be." Danny says as he laughs. _

_Regina admits defeat and quietly leaves. She has to meet up with Vikram to tell him the plan is no longer a go. Danny knew everything. Regina was a little afraid to tell Vikram that she failed. She called him to meet up at their usual spot. As usual, he didn't answer because he was supposed to be dead. When she got to their spot, she found Vikram dead. Regina was scared to death. She didn't know if the person that did it was still there, watching her. Their meetup spot was pretty hidden and secluded, so somebody finding it by accident was close to impossible. She wondered what to do. She didn't know if she should just leave his body there. Regina wasn't taking any chances. She fled the scene and hopped on a bus and left Green Grove for good. _

_Danny never gave his "wife" any more of his thoughts. He put her and their marriage behind him. He didn't care that he was still legally married to her, because it didn't matter. He would never, ever get married again._

Well, that was his plan until he met Lacey. And now Regina ruined that.

Regina looked at Danny, and the absent look on his face and in his eyes. He didn't seem to be in the same room with her. She continued to be frightened. _He's much scarier than his father. Vikram was a kitten compared to Danny. I may have made a mistake. _Regina thinks as she looks for a way out.

Danny snapped back into reality. "I'm not the young guy you seduced and tricked into marriage anymore. I will cause you lots of pain. I have money. I can make you disappear, and then it won't be an issue anymore. I can make happen to you what I should have done when I found out what your plan was. You're going to sign those fucking papers and go away. And stay away for good this time. Do you understand?" Danny asks through clenched teeth.

"Yes." Regina says again. The look on Danny's face and the darkness of his eyes have scared her. She didn't know Danny had that in him. He really isn't the young guy she married anymore.

"I was very generous with my offer. But now since you came here and destroyed things for me, I'm taking that offer away. And if I don't get Lacey back, you'll go away." Danny says with certainty. He really didn't mean to scare her like that, but he meant business.

"Go away, where?" Regina asks in a scared voice.

"The same place _Vikram, _your boyfriend went." Danny answers gravely.

Regina's eyes got wide with fear. She thought she was the only one that knew about Vikram actually being killed after he faked his death. She knows Danny knew that he was still alive. She didn't know Danny knew he was killed. _How does Danny know that part? _Regina asks herself. "But..." Regina says.

"Bye, Regina." Danny says as walks into his bedroom, leaving her alone.

She left quietly, after having the second fright of her life.

* * *

Danny got dressed quickly and left his bedroom. He turned off the water that was still running in the sink. He had forgotten all about the food and the water running. He just thinks back to how two hours ago, his life was great. He and Lacey were playing around and cooking together like a real couple. He assumed that his relationship with Lacey was over. He would have a lot of explaining to do to get her back.

He thinks back to how he wanted to avoid this extreme inconvenience and not ever let Lacey know he was married...

_Danny continued to have that aching feeling in his chest. He knew it was love, but also something else. His secret was nagging him. The sooner he took care of it, the better. He drove to his place and got his place ready for his impending absence. He also made the phone call he needed to make to start the ball rolling on the great cover up. Hopefully, most of it would be handled while he was out of town with Lacey. Then he could rest easy. _

_The phone rang four times before he finally picked up. "Rico Benetti." _

_"Hey, Rico. It's Danny. I have a problem that I need solved." Danny says matter of factly._

_"On a Sunday night?" Rico asks._

_"Yes. It's important." Danny says._

_"You didn't get arrested, did you?" Rico asks._

_"Of course not. You are my lawyer, so if I did get arrested, you'd be the first person I'd call." Danny says._

_"Then what is it? Do you need a large sum of money or something? I can't get you a lot of money tonight, Danny." Rico says._

_"No, I don't need a lot of money tonight. I need to make my Regina problem go away." Danny says._

_"Finally? Why now?" Rico asks._

_"Because I think I may want to get married in the future. For real this time." Danny says._

_"You must have met someone. Are you in love, Danny?" Rico asks as he laughs._

_Danny smiles just thinking about Lacey. "Yes. I'm in love. And I can't exactly be married to another woman, now can I?" Danny asks._

_"Ok. Are you prepared to give her what she asks for? She's not going to sign divorce papers and not get anything in return." Rico says._

_"Is there a way I can make it go away without a divorce? I know we can't just get it annulled because we've been married for so long. I don't want Lacey to know I was married. I didn't tell her and she'll think the worst. She won't understand that my father hired a woman to seduce me for my money." Danny says._

_"Danny, we can get it annulled. Annulments aren't just for marriages that just happened. You could have done that a long time ago though, Danny. I can get it written up as a voidable marriage due to fraud. It's too bad you didn't know that was an option after you married her." Rico says._

_"I was young and dumb then. We didn't have a prenup. She wanted to take everything I had. I was too stubborn to let her have it. It was hard admitting that she duped me." Danny says._

_"So, where is she?" Rico asks._

_"I don't know. I haven't seen or heard from her in years. She could be anywhere." Danny says._

_"Do you really think she'll sign the papers now?" Rico asks._

_"I'm willing to offer her something to get her out of my life for good. She doesn't deserve a dime, but I'll give her a few pennies to get her to go away forever. How much do you think it's going to cost me?" Danny asks._

_"Who knows? She was willing to take everything you had. Who's to say that hasn't changed?" Rico asks._

_"I need this done quickly and quietly, Rico. I don't ever want Lacey to know that I was married before, even if it wasn't real." Danny says._

_"Let me get one of my private investigators on it to see if they can find her. I'll give you a call in a few days." Rico says._

_"No, don't call me . I'll call you. I'm going out of town for a few days for work and Lacey will be with me." Danny says._

_"So you found your future wife at work? I still can't believe I'm saying this to you. I never would have thought you would be ready to really settle down with a woman after Regina." Rico says honestly._

_"Yeah, well things have changed. I've changed. I don't feel the need to play around any more. I took her to meet my mother. She loves her." Danny says._

_"I've got to meet her one day. Keep in touch." Rico says before he hangs up. _

Danny checked to make sure Regina was really gone and left his place. He got in his car and drove as fast as he could without being pulled over to get to Lacey's house. He was thinking of what he was going to say to her to get her to calm down. He figured he would just tell her the truth. He hated that he would have to admit the truth about his father. He only told her that his father was drunk and drove himself off a cliff. That's what happened when he faked his death, but that isn't the whole story. How was he going to explain that? How was he going to explain that he revealed to her what he wanted her to know. How would he tell her that his father really is dead, but that's not he real reason he died? How would he tell her that he knew more about his real death than anyone, other than his mother and one other person?

He pulled on to Lacey's street and started to get nervous. He slowed to a stop in front of her house. He didn't see her car in the driveway, and her house seemed eerily dark. He parked his car and got out anyway. He started to bang on her door. He didn't get an answer. He thought she might have been ignoring him. He started to bang again while yelling her name.

"Lacey! Lacey! Please open the door!" Danny says as he continues to knock. Suddenly the front door to her neighbor's house opened. A small, brown woman with a mass of dark curly hair opened her door. She just folded her arms and stared at him like he was really annoying her and disrupting whatever she was doing.

The way she was looking at him made him uncomfortable. Danny figured that was Sarita. He knew her name but they had never officially met. "Are you Sarita?" Danny asks.

"Yes. Lacey is not home. You can leave now. Your banging and yelling is disturbing me." Sarita says in a snarky tone.

"I'm sorry I'm disturbing you. I really need to find Lacey. When is the last time you've seen her?" Danny asks.

"It's been a few days because she's never home anymore. Bye, bye now." Sarita says in a sarcastic tone.

Danny ignores her sarcasm, but decides to leave. "I'm sorry for disturbing you. Have a nice night." Danny says as he gets into his car and speeds off.

Sarita closed her door with the lingering thought that this guy better not come back knocking on her neighbor's door like he was crazy.

Danny just drove towards Judy's house. He should have known Lacey wouldn't be home. She probably figured he would come there first. He made the drive to Judy's house, remaining cautious of his speedometer. He didn't want to get pulled over. He pulled on to Judy's block and stopped in front of her house. He again didn't see Lacey's car. He still decided to knock anyway.

Clara answered the door, surprised to see Danny. Especially without Lacey. "Hey, Danny. What's up?" Clara asks. Maybe Lacey was going to meet him there and he arrived before her, or he had to drop something off for Lacey. She didn't want to think of anything bad.

"Is Lacey here?" Danny asks hopefully.

Clara starts to get suspicious. "No. Why?" Clara asks in a semi harsh tone.

Danny ignores her question. "Have you talked to her?" Danny asks.

Clara folds her arms across her chest. "No, why? Should I be worried?" Clara asks.

"I don't think you need to worry. I just don't know where she is." Danny says regrettably.

"Why don't you know where she is? Did something happen?" Clara asks.

Danny sighs out of frustration. "We just had a little disagreement and she left my place. I thought she went home, but she isn't there. And she obviously isn't here. I just need to talk to her and apologize." Danny says. There is no way in the world he's telling Clara the truth. He figured she'd probably hear the truth pretty soon from Lacey anyway. He already knew he'd have to face Lacey's wrath, and he didn't think it would be a good idea for him to subject himself to Clara's wrath too.

"You didn't hit her on cheat on her, did you?" Clara asks in a dour tone.

"No. I would never hit Lacey or cheat on her. I would never hurt her Clara. It was all just a misunderstanding." Danny says. It was more than a misunderstanding, but he's entirely truthful about never hitting Lacey or cheating on her. He didn't want to cause her any pain at all.

"Well for your sake, I hope that's all it was. I'll give her a call." Clara says. She wants him gone so that she can find out what's going on with her big sister.

Danny swallows hard. He already knows how Clara is, especially about her sister. "Tell her I love her and I'm worried about her. Ask her to call me. Please." Danny says before he turns to walk away, defeated.

Danny got in his car and drove off. He decided to go back to Lacey's to see if she was there yet. Maybe she was just driving around. He drove past her house and it looked the same as it did when he left not too long ago. Danny felt emasculated.

_Where in the hell is Lacey? _Danny thought to himself.

* * *

Clara went into the house and went up to her mother's bedroom. She was lounging on the bed watching tv. Judy smiled and looked up at her youngest daughter. "Did I hear the doorbell?" Judy asks.

"Yes. Have you talked to Lacey lately?" Clara asks.

"No, not in a few days. Why? Who was at the door?" Judy asks.

"That was Danny. He was looking for Lacey. He said they had a disagreement and she left his place, but she's not home." Clara says.

Judy thinks for a moment. "Maybe she just went somewhere to clear her head. Probably got a drink or something. Call her and see where she is." Judy suggests.

"You're probably right. I'll give her a call." Clara says and she leaves her mother's bedroom. Clara goes to get her phone to call Lacey. It went straight to voicemail. Clara left her a message telling her to call her. She didn't want to worry, but in the back of her mind she was thinking that she would probably have to hurt Danny if he did something unforgivable to her sister.

* * *

Lacey had a good crying fit until she realized how hungry she was. She was so preoccupied with the shenanigans of Danny and _his wife, _that she momentarily forgot that she never ate dinner. She didn't feel like leaving the hotel, so she decided to order room service. She decided to make the best of not being able to go home. After she placed her order, she turned her phone back on. She had several messages from Danny. She deleted them all without even listening to them. She got a message from Clara too. She didn't feel like talking, but she decided to send her bestie a text instead.

_I'm ok. I'm staying at a hotel. I will explain later. I don't want to talk right now. I love you, Sister. _Lacey sent the text and received an immediate response from her sister.

_Danny came past here looking for you. He told me to tell you he loves you and he's worried about you. He wants you to call him._

"I knew he would do that shit." Lacey says out loud to herself.

_I figured he would do that. I'm ok but I'm not ok. I'll talk to you soon._

_Ok. Just making sure you're ok. I'm here when you're ready to talk. I love you, Sister._

Before Lacey had the chance to turn her phone back off, it rang. She looked and sure enough it was Danny. She slid it over to 'ignore' and turned her phone off. She had nothing to say to Danny. She wondered why he was calling her. He should be getting it on with his wife. _Wife. _Just thinking that he had one enraged her. It wasn't supposed to happen this way. She started to feel dirty thinking of all the things she did with a married man. She never wanted to get involved with another woman's husband. Even though it wasn't her fault, she felt extremely bad about what occurred. Had she known he was married, she never would have gotten involved with him.

Lacey rolled over on the bed and grabbed the remote. She turned on the tv because it was way too quiet in that room. She got lost in watching House Hunters when her food arrived. She gave the waiter a tip and dug into her food. She tried to enjoy it but she was too heartbroken to do so. She finished her meal and put the cart in the hallway and put the 'Do Not Disturb' sign on the door before she ripped her clothes off and got into the shower. She felt dirty and used and needed to make herself clean again. She went back to crying again thinking of how stupid she was and how she should have stuck to her guns of hating Danny.

* * *

Danny returned to his condo, defeated. He just sat on his couch and started to sulk. The quiet was deafening. He missed hearing Lacey laugh as they played games, missed hearing her sing when they were just doing nothing. He let out a frustrated sigh. He decided to try and call Lacey again. He got hopeful when the phone rang instead of just going straight to voicemail. He felt the same as before when it went to voicemail. Of course she was ignoring him.

He had to put Lacey and Regina out of his mind because thinking of them gave him so many contrasting emotions. He loved Lacey, wanted to be with her and missed her. He was willing to do anything to get her back. He hated Regina and never wanted to lay eyes on her again. He was angry enough at her to kill her. Of course, he wouldn't. But twice in his life this woman has screwed him over. He just knew that he wouldn't have to deal with her ever again after she signed those papers and they went to court. He thinks he put enough fear into her to get her to sign those papers. He started to get mad at himself for not doing that sooner. Then Lacey would still be his and he wouldn't feel like somebody ran over his chest with a truck.

Danny didn't remember feeling like this when he found out about his father still being alive, when he allowed him and Karen to think he was dead. He didn't feel like this when he found out his father hired his wife to seduce him. He didn't feel this bad when he saw his wife and father kissing like they were the ones that were married. He was hurt when he found out the truth, but it didn't hurt like this. He didn't love Regina as much as he loved Lacey. His father didn't deserve his love to do what he did to him. All he felt now was agony and defeat. Perhaps he could have told Lacey the truth when they were really getting to know each other. He assumed she wouldn't understand. He didn't think anybody could understand it.

His hunger started to get the best of him and he walked into his kitchen. He dumped the burnt food down the garbage disposal and loaded his dishwasher. He just made himself a sandwich. When he was finished, he made himself a stiff drink because he needed it. He retreated to his bedroom. He looked around and saw all of Lacey's things in his room. He picked up the shirt she discarded earlier and inhaled the scent. He was glad that it smelled like her. He got in the bed and it just felt so wrong for Lacey to not be there. Even the nights when she stayed home, didn't feel like this. He let out another frustrated sigh before he turned over to go to sleep, still clutching the tee-shirt that smelled like Lacey.

* * *

Lacey awoke early to call her job to let them know she was sick and wouldn't be in. Lacey got dressed and just watched tv. She was waiting for the time she knew Danny would be at work, so she could go to her house and pack her bag. She wanted to go and stay in her own home, but she wasn't in the mood to face Danny. She was too hurt and too upset. Her emotions were getting the best of her. She felt fragile, like she would break into a million pieces in seconds. Once she knew she was at the point where she knew Danny was at work, she left the hotel and headed home. She packed a bag and fixed herself something to eat. She wasn't going to stay the whole day, but she figured she had hours before she had to leave again. She wanted to stay in her own house. It felt unfair that she had to hide. Lacey then decided that she wasn't going to hide. She did nothing wrong. She left out again and went to check out her hotel room. She would go to her own damn house and live in it. If Danny came over to cause problems, she would have his ass removed by the police.

Lacey unpacked the suitcase she thought she needed while she took time to wallow in heartache. She felt entitled to do that in the privacy of her own home. She turned on her iPod and listened to the saddest music she could find. She listened to Mariah Carey's, _I Don't Wanna Cry_

_Once again we sit in silence _

_After all is said and done _

_Only emptiness inside us _

_Baby, look what we've become _

_We can make a million promises _

_But we still won't change _

_It isn't right to stay together _

_When you only bring each other pain_

_I don't wanna cry _

_Don't wanna cry _

_Nothing in the world could take us back_

_To where we used to be _

_Though I've give you my heart and soul _

_Given you my heart and soul_

_I must find a way of letting go_

_'Cause baby I don't wanna cry _

_I don't wanna cry _

_Too far apart to bridge the distance _

_But something keeps us hanging on and on _

_Pretending not to know the difference _

_Denying what we had is gone_

_Every moment we're together _

_It's just breaking me down _

_I know we swore it was forever _

_But it hurts too much to stay around_

_I don't wanna cry _

_Don't wanna cry _

_Nothing in the world could take us back_

_To where we used to be _

_Though I've give you my heart and soul _

_Given you my heart and soul _

_I must find a way of letting go_

_'Cause baby I don't wanna cry _

_Uh, I don't wanna cry, No_

_All the magic's gone _

_There's just a shadow of a memory _

_Something just went wrong _

_We can't go on make believing_

_I don't wanna cry _

_Don't wanna cry _

_Nothing in the world could take us back_

_To where we used to be _

_Though I've give you my heart and soul _

_Given you my heart and soul _

_I must find a way of letting go_

_'Cause baby I don't wanna cry_

Even though she didn't want to cry, she did. She was more hurt than when she broke up with Archie. She would take that feeling back in a heartbeat. Then, she listened to _All Cried Out _by Lisa Lisa and the Cult Jam.

_All alone on a Sunday morning _

_Outside I see the rain is falling, oh _

_Inside, I'm slowly dying _

_But the rain will hide my crying, crying, crying_

_And you, don't you know my tears will burn the pillow? _

_Set this place on fire 'cause I'm tired of your lies _

_All I needed was a simple, "Hello" _

_But the traffic was so noisy that you could not hear my cry_

_Ah, I gave you my love in vain _

_My body never knew such pleasure _

_My heart never knew such pain _

_And you, you leave me so confused _

_Now I'm all cried out over you _

_Never wanted to see things your way _

_I had to go astray, oh, why was I such a fool? _

_Now I see that the grass is greener _

_Why, oh, why?_

_Is it too late for me to find my way home? _

_How could I be so wrong? _

_Leavin' me all alone_

_Don't you know the heart will cause an inferno? _

_Romance up in flames, why should I take the blame?_

_You were the one who left me neglected _

_Oh no, no, no, no, I'm so sorry _

_Apology not accepted, add me to the broken hearts you collected_

_Ah, I gave you all of me _

_Gave me all of you _

_How was I to know you would weaken so easily _

_I, I don't what to do, now I'm all cried out over you _

_I'm all, I'm cried out too, oh, oh_

_Ah, I gave you my love in vain _

_My body never knew such pleasure _

_My heart never knew such pain _

_I left you so confused, now I'm all cried out _

_Now I'm all cried out over you_

For some reason, listening to those songs actually made her feel better. She cried and cried, but she really started to feel better. She was glad that those songs were like therapy to her. Sure, she was still hurt beyond belief. She was heartbroken, hurt, and mad as hell. But she wasn't crying any more. Her iPod shuffled to _Try Sleeping With A Broken Heart _by Alicia Keys.

_Even if you were a million miles away _

_I could still feel you in my bed _

_Near me, touch me, feel me_

_And even at the bottom of the sea _

_I could still hear inside my head _

_Telling me, touch me, feel me _

_And all the time, you were telling me lies_

_So tonight, I'm gonna find a way to make it without you _

_Tonight, I'm gonna find a way to make it without you _

_I'm gonna hold on to the times that we had _

_Tonight, I'm gonna find a way to make it without you_

_Have you ever tried sleeping with a broken heart? _

_Well, you could try sleeping in my bed _

_Lonely, own me, nobody ever shut it down like you_

_You wore the crown _

_You made my body feel heaven bound _

_Why don't you hold me, need me? _

_I thought you told me you'd never leave me_

_Looking in the sky, I can see your face _

_And then I know right where I fit in _

_Take me, make me, _

_You know that I'll always be in love with you _

_Right till the end_

_So tonight, I'm gonna find a way to make it without you _

_Tonight, I'm gonna find a way to make it without you _

_I'm gonna hold on to the times that we had _

_Tonight, I'm gonna find a way to make it without you_

_Anybody could've told you right from the start it's 'bout to fall apart _

_So rather than hold on to a broken dream, _

_I'll just hold on to love _

_And I can find a way to make it, don't hold on too tight _

_I'll make it without you tonight_

_So tonight, I'm gonna find a way to make it without you _

_Tonight, I'm gonna find a way to make it without you _

_I'm gonna hold on to the times that we had _

_Tonight, I'm gonna find a way to make it without you_

Lacey settled down and calmed her nerves. She would be alright. Relationships end every day. She was stronger than her broken heart. She did the same thing she did with Archie when she broke up with him. She got a trash bag and went around and collected all of Danny's things. For some reason, it was harder this time than that time when she collected Archie's things. It was much harder to throw the things that Danny gave her in the trash. She shook the thought from her mind. She grabbed the bag and headed for her car. She quickly drove to Danny's place and dropped the bag off at the front door of his building. She hoped he had the decency to give her the things she had at his place. She then hopped in her car and drove back to her home and hideout for the moment. She did hide her car in the back of her house though. She didn't want him to know right off the bat that she was home.

She was unofficially a single woman again. She would stay that way for a long time.

* * *

Danny awoke the next day restless. He didn't sleep well at all. The only thing that made him get out of the bed was going to work and seeing Lacey. He showered and dressed, and headed out to work. He made a stop at Starbucks because he needed coffee to keep him woke. He spent the entire night thinking of Lacey and missing her. He thought of what he would say. The first part was pretty easy to tell her since she already knew he was married. Once he explained that everything isn't what it seems, he hoped they would be back to where they were. He knew he had a lot of explaining to when she asked him why he never told her. He just decided he was going to be honest and lay everything on the table. Lacey deserved that much. She didn't deserve to find out the way she did. He started to get angry again just thinking about Regina and her tactics.

He walked to his office and drank his coffee to get his nerves and thoughts together. He didn't want to bombard Lacey with explanations. He would just close her office door and tell her everything she needed to hear. He knew that Lacey wouldn't get too angry or shout the way she did the previous night while at work. That worked in his favor. He got up and made the trek to Lacey's office. As he was walking down the hallway, Whitney spotted him and started talking to him.

"Hey Danny. What are you doing in this neck of the woods? I know you already know Lacey isn't here. Is she ok?" Whitney asks.

_Lacey isn't here. Shit. She really is avoiding me. Lacey never takes days off of work. _Danny started to get that aching feeling in his chest again. He hated that he hurt her that much that she didn't even want to come to work. He noticed that Whitney was looking at him expectantly. "She's fine, she was just feeling a little under the weather. I came to get something from her office before I forgot." Danny lies.

For some strange reason, Whitney didn't believe him. She wondered why she thought that. "Ok. Well tell her I hope she feels better." Whitney says while trying not to eye Danny suspiciously.

"I will." Danny says as he tries to hide his cringe and heads back to his office.

Whitney looked at him completely forget about going to Lacey's office. She knew she was right, thinking that he was lying to her. She decided she would call Lacey herself and find out what's really going on.

* * *

Danny returned to his office to sulk. He picked up his phone and called Lacey. Her phone was still going to voicemail. He needed to speak with her. The fact that she didn't come to work, made him feel totally guilty. Even though it was Regina's fault, he still had to take the blame in his part. He should have told her. Point, blank, period. There's no other way to get around it. He had to accept responsibility for hurting the woman he loved.

He felt the need to leave work. He was unfocused and nowhere near where he needed to be to be productive. Danny figured out a way to leave. Maybe he could just feign an illness, and leave. He had never done that before. But he decided to take a giant leap and tell his boss that he was ill and needed to leave. Or he can lie and say he has some sort of family emergency and he needs to leave. He needed to see Lacey and it couldn't wait until that evening.

Danny just had to say to hell with his job for a minute. Even if he got fired, he was going to leave. He picked up his phone again and called Mr. Wheeler's office. He was the boss most likely to let him leave without a hassle. Once he explained that he felt sick and needed to leave, Mr. Wheeler gladly let him leave. He didn't want any sick employees in his building when they could be home resting. Danny grabbed his keys and headed straight for the elevator. He was inside his car and driving towards Lacey's house in a matter of minutes. He pulled up in front of her house and again didn't see her car. Something was nagging him and telling him to check anyway. He knocked on the door while also ringing the doorbell. He was shocked and flabbergasted when Lacey yanked the front door open. He did not like the look on her face.

"Can I come in? Please? So we can talk. I need to explain." Danny begs and he really hopes she lets him in.

Lacey stepped to the side to let him in without a word. He entered her house and just stood near the door as she closed it. He turned and expected to see Lacey's face.

He saw something else instead.

* * *

**Author's Note Again: I forgot to add that I made Regina Danny's wife because I can actually stomach the idea of Danny with being with Regina. Jo will not ever be Danny's wife, girlfriend, friends with benefits, ANYTHING of the sort in a fic I write. Danny and Jo is just gross and I won't even entertain that notion. Like I said before, he pretended to be her boyfriend in Dangerously Dark Duo. **

**And another thing I must reiterate. PLEASE, PLEASE do not leave reviews on my tumblr page. I have a few people that I communicate with on there, but that isn't the place to leave them. Thank you. **


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